I almost cut myself reading that shit. It sounds like it was written by a bunch of angry emo teenagers.
I thought the average age of /tg/ users was a little bit higher than that.

>>54498735
Come on anon, live a little. Edge is good for the soul.

So, we've got the major players, the factions, and a good set of locations down. Should we potentially start looking at smaller characters to name and better spice up the world, or should we only stick to the larger world stuff to make sure that anyone attempting to play in this setting has plenty of wiggle room to make their own characters without worrying about a billion little people?

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>>54500971
Making smaller characters sounds like a great idea. Makes the world have a bit more life, and feeling put into it.

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I said I would write about the Race of Bone and Marrows, and I will write about the Race of Bone and Marrows!

>Every two months, our Dark Lords have decreed for us a brief time of respite. Whether this is to give us relief, or to rally us to their cause, I do not know, nor do I care. I live for this race, and I want to win.
>The Race of Bone and Marrows is a deadly, violent race, filled with the most bloodthirsty warriors and extravagant racers of the Branded. It is so wide-spread that even rebels have entered to prove their worth to gain favor with some of the Dark Lords over another.
>If you talk to the manager of the event, the Architect, he would tell you that it is an event to bring justice to the criminals, and to give praise to the Black Sun itself, but the rest know it's little more than a glorified bloodbath at breakneck speed.
>I am a Branded, my keep is with the Dark Lord of the Hounds. I enjoy the Hunt, the chase, the adrenaline, and he encourages each of his chosen Marrows to do well. To destroy the competition, to look into the very soul of the criminals who would betray us, and slaughter them.
>Some of us are weak-spined, and would use this chance to run, run as fast as they could away from the race. I chase these ones down first.
>The others know their strength or speed well enough to try, and some magicians or technicians have joined out of curiosity for the prize.
>All are welcome. Most will fall.
>The crowds gather with a dull buzzing around the start of the track, a wide berth given from the starting point, the tall gates of the Architect's "glorious" city, starting when the Lord of the Mountain has his slaves slam the war drums.
>The beat of the drums are in pace with the speed of our mounts, and we hear the bravado in the Lord's voices as they gather for some twisted form of competition.
"Welcome, our humble Branded, to the Race of Bone and Marrows! A grim spectacle with the audience of us three, and the malice of thousands!" (1/?)

>>54501097
Hot diggidy, I was hoping you'd get around to writing a new story.

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I have a general question about Branded society. Are all newly branded people made into slaves, and need to rise through the ranks to earn more freedom, or are slaves chosen from the general population of Branded who have more freedom?

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>>54501263
Might be a little bit of column A and a little bit of column B. It may even depend on which Dark Lord they follow even.

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>>54501097
>Once the Lord of the Mountains finishes his introduction, the slaves slam their drums in a frenzy.
>That's usually the case, though. Before the Lord could finish his last sentence, a storming sound of strange galloping and an ear-piercing siren shot through the start of the race, and the mysterious morphed rider known only as the One Runner shot across the starting line, causing the Dark Lord of the Fire to shout into the broadcast in a fit of excitement.
"Catch last year's winner! The One Runner will fetch not only a high price, but bets will be paid in triple for whoever kills him!"
>The announcement riled bloodthirst within the crowd and the racers, and before the drums would even start pounding, the racers were off to catch the One Runner, to either learn his secrets, or for the glory of catching him.
>Once we hit the wastes where only the Dark Lords could watch us with the help of the Astronomer himself, racers started to pull out weapons.
>Swords, maces, bows, crossbows, hammers, sickles, bladed boomerangs, hot oil, Old World pistols, mage staves, strange devices, cocktails of flame
>None mattered when blood was spattering already, painting the dull canvas of the fields with the blood and fervor of the Black Sun's devoted
>Innards became outards, swords cutting into mounts & riders, splaying guts across the dirt, everyone wanting to weed out the weak competition before it got more difficult
>I wanted the One Runner for myself. I wanted to know it the only way I can, by beating it in both speed and strength, to prove myself to the Lord of the Hounds. Through pain and trials I would know it, and gain the prize.
>As the pack sprints, galloping as the stale air of despair lands on our lips, we know that we approach the criminals.
>Given a headstart as a cruel joke by the Lord of the Hounds, some are even given weapons with long reach such as polearms, axes, and halberds.
>It's a great Hunt with them, as the Most Dangerous Game.

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Another potential plot hook for those interested.

>The Scribes of Dark Lords are often sent from land to land, collecting important information for their masters, drawing up new maps, and delivering important messages to other Lords.
>However, not all Scribes are welcome to travel as they wish all the time. Be it because of strong rebel presence, a feud between two Dark Lords, or the general chaos of the world turning against them, Scribes can find themselves in great danger.
>This is why a Scribe must sometimes go undercover, pretending to be a common Branded to move through a place undetected.
>Or, if the Scribe does not want to put themselves in danger, they will hire out mercenaries to act as both his defenders, and accessories while he is incognito.
>Independent parties who go from place to place, wherever the work will take them, who have enough knowledge of the world at large to help the scribe fit into any situation.
>"We're just traveling to the next Bone and Marrows game" or "we're simple curators looking for knowledge, we mean you no harm."
>Or, if the Scribe needs a threat eliminated to ensure their safety, without having the attacked be linked to his master, he will have the mercenaries handle the situation.
>It is shady work, and dangerous business, but for those who seek freedom from a rebel army or a Dark Lord's ruling, it is one of the few profitable options available.

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>>54501097
>>54501803
Listen to this while reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQeA609Td7Q

Part 3 of ?

>The strong and convicted stand at the front to hold the line, blood covering their eyes, and broken shackles line their wrists and feet. They stand shaken, but determined.
>The weak and the fearful deserve no respect, as they run in fear to save their own hides. They are usually the ones dragged behind steeds with lassos, dying with the thrill of the hunted.
>What most seldom consider are the smart, wily ones. They will hide. They will pretend to be scared, but we mustn't think lowly of them. With this much time to prepare, those with guile prepare traps, and intend to steal the riders' mounts from under them.
>Criminals who prove themselves are given freedom in the Lord of the Fire's domain, or the Lord of the Hounds if they join the Hunt by killing other criminals.
>This time, it seems as though we had a large batch of Curators caught for treachery. What we did not know, is that they had set up mines.
>The foolhardy racers at the front of the pack that sought to wear out their mounts first rather than conserve their energy were the ones to go, instantly turning into overpriced wall art as their heads ended up in multiple places at once.
>Some horses were stolen, as with a few lassoed, they were strong enough to pull the rider off and hop on the mount themselves.
>I instinctively rushed at the rebel leader holding a halberd, looking at us with a grim determination, while a herd of Marrows looked back with an intimidating hunger.
>His blade had slashed my mount's leg, and I impaled him with my lance, pushing him into the air as I raised my weapon to force him to fall into it.
>With a struggle, his wound increased in size as he pierced my armor in the shoulder with his weapon. His lungs giving out, a bloodcurdling plea escaped his lips before he slid off of my lance.
>Blood on the wind, as I chased my true quarry.
The One Runner.
(3/?)

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>There is talk amongst higher echelons of the Dark Lords followers, talk of the Architect making dealings with terrible 'things', deals that seem to take up much of the Dark Lords time nowadays.
>It is not known exactly who the entities that the Architect is dealing with are, nor is it known what their deals entail.

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>>54502590
>Trying to discover what the Architect's deals entail is a soul crushing burden itself, but not because of the details of his deals themselves.
>Rather, it is sheer scope and magnitude of plans, schemes, contracts, and deals in the city that one must shift through.
>Between nobles, slave masters, merchants, generals, and even the lowest of Branded kind, the Sprawling City is one of the few places where everyone seems to have some business, social, or political connection that somehow, however loosely, connects back to the Dark Lord.
>And to figure out which ones relate to the Lord's true plans, and which are just distractions and filler, can numb the mind.

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>>54502741
>The only ones who know for certain what the Lord Of Cities true plans are, are his greatest servants and head scholars.
>Of course, these scholars and mage-generals are usually insane to some degree, and tend to speak in cryptic phrases, and finding them is next to impossible as they rarely make themselves known to all but the Dark Lord himself.

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When it comes to potential adaptions of this setting to mechanics, how magic should be handled comes up.

From what we have so far, there's two major types of magic. Black magic, obviously fueled by the Black Sun, and Ethereal Arts, which come from the Abstracts. How should they differ mechanically?

I'm thinking that black magic is generally more offensive, with the drawback being an increased number of mutations and corruption to one's character, and ethereal arts are more buff/defense based, with the drawback being that is draws more attention to you being a rebel if you're using it out in public.

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>>54503227
I agree with Black magic being offensive based, with mutations stacking up over time from extended use. Ethereal Arts I feel should be more conceptually based, they should take more from the Abstracts that way.

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>>54503450
If that's the case, I imagine that the Arts in game have more of a situational tinge to them. Like a spell who's concept is "displeasure" allows you to turn someone against an ideal for a brief time, or if it's "concentration" it allows you to have an easier time making hits or completing tasks that have a chance to fail.

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>>54503565
That sounds like it would work very well. Perhaps certain artifacts could even amplify those effects, making them stronger or reinforcing ones will when facing an opponent.

>>54504107
I like that a lot, actually. Maybe the base Ethereal spells are generally weak but somewhat useful things (like cantrips in D&D) but by collecting artifacts amplifies them to become stronger. Drawbacks arise when your character is lugging around a bunch of artifacts to have highly influential Arts, and people immediatly see that you're holding onto things that the Dark Lords probably consider illegal.

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Bumping this, to keep interest up.

>>54504851
Hopefully once story anon gets back and finishes up their stuff, interest will start up again.

Just to be meta for a sec, if we want these threads to survive long term as generals, we might want to keep them as weekend threads instead of making a new thread each time the previous one dies. That worked before but let's face it, people will need time to think up new ideas, try the setting out, and just keep themselves from not getting burned out from the setting.

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>>54504991
Yeah, making them into weekend threads sounds like a pretty goodecent idea. I'm actually thinking of reviving those old 'Hollow Deeds' world building threads, or at least try to garner some interest in a potential revival.

>>54505168
Hollow Deeds? Never heard of it, explain pls.

I'm thinking we ride this thread out for whatever it can get us, then once it dies, save the next thread until Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

I've never done one before, but I'm starting to think maybe one of those faction generating tables could be a fun thing for the threads too. Roll up what Lord they work for, what skills they have, that sort of thing.

Hey dudes I highjacked parts of this idea for a cardgame I'm working on, thanks for all the gr8 inspo

>>54506178
Don't just leave us on that, m8. Tell us about the card game.

>>54506234
It's nothing special, it's a pretty derivative system actually
I just like having some kind of lore to work off when I make it
Making cards is pretty boring when they're all called "CARD1FACTION1" etc

>>54506376
Well hell friendo, if these threads are successfully around long enough to become weekend generals, feel free to post progress reports. There's actually some not!Tarot card lore in the previous threads and google doc if you want more stuff for inspiration.

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>>54505297
>Hollow Deeds? Never heard of it, explain pls.
This is the link to the archived second thread, and here's the Google doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GuPLQndY4T7-RufuZmDcS_VdVKuoRwMP_x5K1WRW0SE/edit.

Pretty much the long and short of it is that the world is fucked, the pantheon is destroyed, the goddess of the sun and former pantheon head is imprisoned, three sentient evil Moons plague the sky at night, with the fourth good moon barely able to manifest to illuminate the sky on rare nights, and evil creatures are pressing on to destroy the last remnants of humanity. Only the Church and the Hunters stand between mankind and total annihilation.

>>54506403
Great, thanks
I just started on it a few weeks ago and I was in the first thread, thought it would sweet backstory for one of my underdeveloped factions, and it did. It's actually the main antagonist faction in a world with magic, but its pretty subdued.

>>54506731
>Evil moons
I'm interested. I'll have to give this a read.

>>54506765
So did you just clump the Black Sun/Dark Lords into this one faction, or choose one particular baddy to be your evil faction?

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>>54506731
*Shit forgot the archive link, >>53481863'

I'm writing up a faction creation table right now, so far I have.

>Masters (who the faction follows)
>Type of Unbranded (if they don't wind up with either a Dark Lord of the Dawn Machine)
>Combat speciality
>Mutation level
>Reputation and Size (not sure if I should keep them as one table or split them)

Outside of quirks and such, are there any elements I should include that I'm missing?

>>54506924
Black Sun, yes, dark lords, no
Apart from the black sun faction, the rest of the factions are really representatives of certain types of magic
>One seeks old arcane tomes to learn about the world
>One uses dark rituals, blood arts. necromancy/sanguinmancy type stuff, uses the dead, uncorrupted bodies to fight the sun
>One walked away from spells, uses magic to power machines built underground
>One seeks eternal balance, trying to bring light back to the world, but occasionally must use the darkness to fight the darkness
Kinda cliched I know but I had the factions down before I added this. This stuff just makes a good backdrop for the rest of the story. A few gods serve the black sun faction but others support the other magical groups
I had a card idea for the Lord of the Hound that I really liked and one for Lord of Vermin but I don't know where to put them. Thinking blood gets one of them so far

>>54505168
>>54504991
Document anon here

It would also be far easier to keep updating the Doc if it were just on the weekend. Its been quite a bit of effort to get this together.

additionally, if we wait until the weekend, i would have time to better organize and edit the doc for easier consumption

>>54507612
All the more reason then. Weekend threads it is. Once again, great work with the document, you do us all a great service.

Black Sun Faction Creation Table, 1.0

Master (1d100)
1-10: Dark Lord of Plants
11-20: Dark Lord of Mountains
21-30: Dark Lord of Vermin
31-40: Dark Lord of Fires
41-50: Dark Lord of Cities
51-60: Dark Lord of Hounds
61-70: Dark Lord of Black Waters
71-80: Dark Lord of Stars
81-90: The Dawn Machine
91-100: Unbranded (see Unbranded table)

Unbranded (1d100)
1-20: Underground Rebels
21-40: Mourners and Clerics
41-60: Curators
61-80: Thundermen
81-100: Mercenaries

Mutation level (1d100)
1-25: Mutation free.
26-50: Standard mutations.
51-75: More mutations than normal.
76-100: More monster than man.

Combat specialty (1d100)
1-25: Common weapons (swords, bows, spears, ect)
26-50: Old world weapons (guns, explosives, ect.)
51-75: Ethereal Arts (mind manipulation, conceptual magic, dark resistance, powers from the Abstracts)
76-100: Black Magic (curses, hexes, dark manipulation)

Reputation and Size (1d100)
1-25: Barely a blip on the map
25-50: A small but noticeable collective
51-75: An ever growing company
76-100: Well established threat

Quirks (roll 2d100, reroll on a repeat)
1-10: Leader rumored to be a reincarnation of an ancient hero.
11-20: Made up of gilled people.
21-30: Former criminals and convicts
31-40: Secret moon worshipers
41-50: Secret sunspotters
51-60: Peaceful, won’t use violence unless forced to
61-70: Ties to apothecaries, masters of medicine.
71-80: Made up of families, including children.
81-90: Rich, plenty of dredges to spend
91-100: Reuse their dead as Stitched soldiers

Secret Weapon (1d100)
1-20: Old Mobile War Machine
21-40: Well trained spies
41-60: Trained monsters
61-80: Friends in high places, political influence
81-100: Have one of the Eight Gifts (see table)

Eight Gifts (1d8)
1: The Plant Lord’s Flower
2: The Water Lord’s Pure Water
3: The City Lord’s Castle
4: The Fire Lord’s Sword
5: The Vermin Lord’s Bugs
6: The Star Lord’s Globe
7: The Hound Lord’s Pup
8: The Mountain Lord’s Gold

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>>54507612
Don't stress yourself out Anon. Weekend threads are better for gaining more posters anyway.

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Bump.

I thought this was about the book and was excited.

>>54509082
>there's a book called Black Sun Rising
Huh, who would have known?
Sorry to disappoint anon, hopefully the thread lore will be an interesting enough substitution.

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>>54509082
Don't worry Anon. With any luck, the lore will be a good enough substitute for the ColdFire Trilogy books.

Like another anon said in a previous thread, the way this setting handles technology is really interesting. Medieval weaponry and sci-fi stuff are all in the same place, but it's not really considered weird, no one is better or smarter than someone else for handling one thing over another, it's just part of life.

But that does lead to a question. If there were kingdoms and magic before the black sun, how were they also making space stations and guns? Is it like a Final Fantasy situation, where technology and magic just developed alongside each other?

>>54504851
>>54504876
>>54504991
>>54505168

Story Anon here.

Yeah, I think that doing it on weekends is a good idea. I liked writing my story in the morning, but I'm still thinking of how to end it, and I also was busy for most of the day. I'm sorry for being absent, but things come up during the week. Also, at least Docu-Anon and I are recording stuff in our own Google Docs, so I assure you we're looking! It's just busy during the week.

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>>54510092
>Is it like a Final Fantasy situation, where technology and magic just developed alongside each other?
It was probably this, and I wouldn't be surprised considering what the Abstracts were and how they functioned. Magi-tech would probably be something that the kingdoms of old had access to duemail to them accepting magic as a fact of life.

>>54510125
There you are Story Anon, glad to know you're still around. This thread is pretty quiet right now, but if you figure out how you want to end your story, feel free to finish it up.

>>54510148
I like that. It's also a good way to sell the setting. It's likeFinal Fantasy if evil won, and won hard, paints a pretty good image.

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Bumping this.

Why not use Innistrad or Ravenloft instead.

>>54511091
Ravenloft and Innistrad are horror settings, sure, but they're more victorian era spooks. This setting is way different, more wide scale, end times, evil empire stuff.

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>>54501097
>>54501803
>>54502069
>With the criminals left in the horizon, I followed the One Runner's strange path, leaving the other contestants in my wake.
>With the dust picking up, and the Black Sun burning just on the top of the mountains, I wanted to slow my steed down, to let it rest, to perhaps give it some time
>The One Runner continued ahead, undaunted, pushing and muscles firing all in perfect form with each powerful step.
>I had to really push my ride, knowing how it was injured, and understanding its breathing to only push when it was able, as every few breaths caused the beast to stumble
>With the One Runner veering off the track, a quick thought entered my mind before another, unwelcome thought entered and spoke.
"Chase him."
>The voice startled me, but it seemed as though it was right to do. Nodding in agreement, I threw my lance to the side, and peeled off my armor to keep up the speed.
>We weren't going much faster, but the land seemed to warp around the Runner and I as we traveled onward, blurring behind our wake
>The One Runner was still making a distance between us, so I threw my horse's armor off as well, leaving it behind as we jolted forward.
>Agility like no other, the One Runner seemed to dance between the beams of the Black Sun, leaving cracks in the flesh of the world with powerful strides
>It was a beautiful thing in such a twisted creature, to see such potent strides work in tandem with a rider full of alacrity, unlike anything else. Their minds were truly as one, and could run without taking anything else into consideration. The Hunt, the race, against what?
>A race against time? Not even that. No. A race against the Black Sun itself. The greatest race of all. To reach it before anyone. To become one with it, to understand. I could hear laughter burrowed in my ears, the sizzling and folding of my flesh into my horse.
>I know now. The One Runner became what he was to win. He did what I did.
>I have not won.
>We are one.
(4/4)

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How do you imagine the Dark Lords look, assuming they don't just constantly change their shape all the time (some other info implies that the Fire Lord can shape shift).

I really have this picture of Architect looking like a Tunon type in my mind. Very formal, but still creepy and inhuman.

>>54501097
>>54501803
>>54502069
>>54511350
Thanks for the story, anon. Always nice to get narrative world building like this.

>>54511501
Sorry to keep you waiting so long for this, I should have taken the time to finish it before I ran errands, but such is life.

>>54511511
Hopefully during the weekend thread we'll have more people sharing stories and stuff. There was one anon who mentioned wanting to make a really cool sounding Mountain King story.

>>54511564
Oooh, hot damn, I look forward to that. I love the Mountain Lord. He's gotten the least amount of fleshing out, it seems.

>>54511601
I know what you mean. We've only had a few posts hinting at what he's like and what he does, but already you can get a cool image of him in your head. It'd be nice to see if that anon delivers.

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>>54511448
I picture the Architect as taking on a *mostly* human form when addressing his servants, but taking the form of an eldritch mass of blocks and angles whenever he is outside of 'polite' company. The other Dark Lords might do something similar, with the Lord Of Plants taking the form of a wizened old druid or shaman when treating his "children", and taking the form of a miles high mass of plant and biomatter miles high.

>>54503450 How should we incorporate mutations ie. What kinds are there and at what point does one recieve more?

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>In his early years of rule, when all opposition was crushed and the Dark Lords officially controlled the world, The Dark Lord of Fires looked at his brother The Dark Lord of Plants, and saw an easy new territory to take over, for his soldiers were eager to conquer and had no one else to rule.
>He sent a platoon over to one of the Gardner's forests, and burned it to the ground as a sign of his strength.
>The Plant Lord's followers were no match for the Fire Lord's burning legion.
>The Fire Lord's soldiers returned to their great volcano victorious, bringing back whatever spoils they had found along the way.
>And all seemed good for the Fire Lord.
>For a time.
>One day, as his legions went through their routine marches, a soldier's stomach burst wide open, flesh spreading out like flower petals.
>Spores shot out from the cavity, dancing in the air with the falling ash.
>Soon, another soldier burst.
>Then another.
>And one by one, each soldier fell, until the ground was painted red with blood and the sky was made a musty yellow hue.
>The Fire Lord sent his soldiers to burn the spores and ensure they did not spread, but all who breathed in the pollen were doomed to spread it.
>Thick, hard roots grew out from the corpses and into the ground below. The Fire Lord was amazed at how these plants could somehow survive his lifeless lands.
>By the time the Fire Lord stepped in himself to clear out the spores and rip out the roots, it was too late.
>The army he had planned to use against the Lord of Plants was eliminated in a single day.
>And that is why the Dark Lord of Fire is hesitant to try fully conquering his allies.
>For you never know what tricks they might have up their sleeves.

>>54511860
I'm imagining something like wild magic sorcery like in DnD. When you cast a dark magic spell, you have to roll a d20 or other such die after casting, with a 1 determining if there are any negative effects. Perhaps the mutation you risk getting, or how likely you are to get a mutation, is increased with how powerful the dark spell is. So a simple force blast might be a low risk, with a bad roll getting you some damaged skin and lower endurance. But summoning giant black tentacles to drag someone into a shadow dimension is a high risk spell that could very well make your arms fall off, or turn you into a mindless beast if your mutation check roll goes badly enough.

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I'm just gonna bump this before I go to bed. Keep the thread alive Anons.

>>54512080
080
Not a bad idea, I also think how often they're used should also be a factor. Perhaps if each mutation had a value and each spell cast increases the pcs mutation value gaining a mutation every time they reach a certain point until eventually becoming a mindless beast. Lower grade spells could give a mutation value rolled on a d3 or d5 and higer grade spells could be rolled on as high as a d20. Should there be a way to reduce or lower ones mutation value do you think?

>>54513091
Maybe they should take after the concept of... I think quirks? From the Shadowrun system. Positive, negative traits of varying potencies?

>>54513091
I do think there should be a grading system for mutations, and prolonged use of black magic should increase your risks. Reducing your risk of getting mutations could be done by using specific Ethereal Arts and preparing yourself with things like World-Flesh leather, but your mutation value would go up the moment you're not using those anymore. Black magic should be something that carries weight to it, so the only ways to fully lower your mutation rates should be more difficult to do, such as finding well trained clerics or finding a purifying artifact.

>>54513106
I'm not familiar with how Shadowrun handles "quirks." I do know that the more augmented you are, the worse things get for you on a social level (something about losing humanity, right?) which is somewhat similar to what we'd want to go for with black magic.

>>54513219
I think that would work pretty well and fits with what we're after. How does the shadowrun 'quirks' system work?

>>54513219
The artifact could even be the dark lord of dark water's pure water

>>54513858
Either that or the Vermin Lords bugs, yeah. Something that's not easy to get to for sure.

>>54513888
For the best way to reduce mutations yeah. Should mutations give certain skills and abilities depending on which lord domain the pcs are in?

Is this world flat? And what can you tell me about people that live on the Edge?

Oborotni are a race of doppelgangers that need to kill and wear the skin of their prey to take his form. Some live in human villages for decades having a quiet life. Some wear the skin of a bear and go on murderous rampages. Ruse Bolotn is the most famous one, said to have a ruled a kingdom for 500 years by killing his children when they turned 18 and pretending to be them to inherit his own throne.

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One more contribution before I pass out.

>When one becomes Branded, they become connected to their Dark Lord, and as such, the Black Sun.
>It is through this link to the Black Sun that they are able to withstand the rays more naturally than an unbranded.
>But the price for the brand is great; not just a life of servitude, but a link between one's soul and the Black Sun itself.
>The Black Sun may not be corrupting the Branded, but this is because the Branded have already surrendered themselves to it.

>Now, it isn't unheard of for Branded to rebel against their Dark Lord and try to escape their enslaved lives.
>Nothing physically prevents this. Any Branded can turn traitor.
>Yet the brand remains. They are still bound to the Black Sun, the subconscious laughs still echoing in the back of their minds.
>Along with that knowledge is the physical reminder that will always being there. No matter what they try to become, they will always be Branded.

>Some accept this, and continue to fight regardless. Others cannot bear this curse.
>It is a painful and long process, but the removal of a brand is possible with a skilled enough cleric and a strong willed Branded.
>The Branded will expose their brand, and allow the cleric to cut at it with a blessed knife.
>The pain is excruciating, for it is not just a lump of burned flesh being cut, but the connection to the Black Sun.
>And the Black Sun's screams of protest ring in the mind of the Branded.
>Only when the brand is completely removed and the wound is cleaned of any corruption, surface level or deeply rooted, will the screams stop.
>They say that removing the brand is at once a feeling of pure relief for being freed of the curse, and a perverted sense of sorrow for what power was lost.
>The now unbranded has lost all their resistance to the Black Sun's rays.
>Some say the Black Sun now knows this now unbranded personally, and desires revenge.
>But the unbranded can now stand proud as a free man.

>>54513983
Huh. I don't think we've ever established how the world is, though it being flat does make some sense considering how the sun never sets anywhere, on all corners of the planet. Though I believe that so far everyone's just assumed it's still a round planet.

Either way, we know of two edge areas. The north leads to the Voidnarrow, a chasm that leads deep underground, where revolutionaries hide and the rumored Dawn Machine (a man made star that seeks to conquer the world itself, though it's far weaker than the Black Sun) live.

The South is the Silent South, a frozen tundra where a group of explorers and scientists called the Thundermen travel, trying to find old world machines and secrets that the Dark Lords don't want them to find.

>>54513920
Potentially. It might be a neat idea if some mutations are beneficial in the short term (extra strength, extra reach, ect), or even have special bonuses due to the lord it's connected to, but it's still a negative in the long run, and trying to go full mutant is a pretty bad idea.

>>54514129
Thats what I was thinking. Maybe the highest form of mutation just before beast could be some form of the lord they serve eg. Lord of the flame servant being able to manipulate flame or shapeshift and lord of plants being able to control plants or create the spores that took down the lord of fire's army

new to this. can you copy paste me the major players of the setting?

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>...It was on the second day, that Ratking Sullivan deigned to dine with us. He emerged from the master bedchamber of his Warren-Keep, clad in moth-eaten rainment, a dozen of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren holding his trailing cloak up from the floor.

>Contrary to the stereotypes held by my Architectite brethren, the Vermin noble held every courtesy and honor that the highest Brand-Lord of our grandest cities observed. He bid his servants take the coats on me and my guards, and offered each an aperitif of white spirit, a sweet liquor brewed from nectar of the subterranean Vokkar Bloom.

>He soon ushered us into the dining hall, eager to show us the preparations he had made for supper.

>'An honour for a scribe as renown as yourself, sir.' He said with a smile. 'You'll soon fine our cuisine to be quite up to standard, I assure you.'

>The first course was caviar of dire salmon on rye. A sweet starter to whet the appetite, with a lingering scent of salt. Fresh-caught from the nearby lake, as I understood.

>Next was soup. Far from the stagnant broth many might imagine, the Ratking's soup was amber-gold and clear. Wriggling tadpoles of the highly coveted Prince-Toad could be seen paddling in the broth, and the sensation of their vain struggle to resist my calling gullet would be a delight to any Branded.

>For our entree, honey-roasted pterasaur with mushroom stuffing. The game had been hunted just this morning, by the Ratking's own firstborn, shot down with his rifle. He took great delight in showing where the bullet entered through the nostril, and out the eye. The meat was lean, but tender, strips falling off the bone when you licked.

Since show Euron is laughing stock can we put idealized book Euron in this setting?

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>>54516373

>Our mains was a treat. The Ratking stood up, and let our a loud cry. Through the large double-doors, servants brought in the plate, large enough to serve as a battle-shield. On it, rumps thrust in the air, sat two char-browned eunuchs, with mouths stuffed with flowers. I saw my normally-stoic guard lick his lips, to my amusement.

>'Two fine calfs, fat and juicy.' The Ratking said. 'Taken from their abode from the village below. Free-ranged beasts, unlike the poor penned in creatures of the city. You'll fine their flavor beyond pleasure.'

>To be certain, he was right. I helped myself to a haunch, and bit deep. Salt-sweet and nutty, with a hint of saffron. Golden juices mixed, with dark half-cooked blood, dribbled down my chin. The brain was well-developed, far from the hopeless thoughts of those caught in the City's Black Cells, these played and dreamed. I found myself in euphoric bliss as I cleaned my plate up.

>For dessert, I was almost disappointed. A platter of swollen red fruit, candied in a coating of sugar. They looked almost mundane, until I realized where they must have come from.

>'Indeed, indeed!' The Ratking said, with a belly-laugh. 'Our last raid on the Gardener's lands proved... fruitful indeed.'

>'But that must have been miles away.' I said, puzzled. 'For fruit as fresh as this, surely it could not have been plucked for more than a day?'

>At this, the Ratking looked me in the eye, his red pupils glistening with mischief.

>'The Kingdom of my Lord is the largest in the world, oh Scribe.' He said, smiling. 'Perhaps in the future, one might look to his feet as one walks.'
>Excerpt from Scribe Sansha's 'Memoirs of an Architectite' 'Ch. 4, The Empire 'neath'.

I have seen the Mountain in the East at sunrise and watched the shadow clamber to his peak to guard the Black Sun in his own silent vigil. I have been to the frozen south were not even the evils in the sky can penetrate the ever constant grey of the magiks at play there. I have seen the Scribes inbue a champion and I watched as he fell and claimed a brand of his own. His fate was dust on the wind. I watched as the last desperate hope to stop the Lords failed and ended in death and ruin.

I have travelled by the light of the Sun and by the darkness of Luna all across this globe and witnessed great and terrible things. I will tell you this once adventurers and heed my warning. The Dark Star that sits above us must be stopped but there are things locked away in this world that not even the evil above us could seal back away. Tread carefully at the ends of and in the depths of this world for the Dark Lords are more than just instruments of the Black Sun. They have guarded some things since before the light turned black

>>54515623
Check out the google doc in the OP, it has pretty good breakdowns of the major players in it.

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>>54516373
>>54516554
>this story
D e v l i s h

>>54517695
>time posted
>12:12:12
It's double the devilish.

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>It is known that on rare occasions the Black Sun will 'speak', making an unholy sound that sends all Branded into a strange state of immense pain and pleasure, driving them into maddened delirium.
>In the case of the Dark Lords, they rest on this day and bask in the voice of their dread master, entering a state similar to slumber as they begin communion with it.

>>54518375
>Because of how the Dark Lords behave during this time, these events are affectionately called "Days of Rest" by the loyal Branded.
>It is a time of worship and celebration, as priests praise the Dark Sun through their overwhelmed senses.

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Bump while I take my time reading the doc

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Bumping to ensure that this lives.

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>>54521537
Don't worry m8, if the thread dies, the thread dies, we'll start another one on the weekend.

But to give this thread a bit more life, another contribution.

>Supplies carried by the slave caravans across the black sea are the life blood of each of the Dark Lord's empires.
>Yet resistance groups need supplies too, and there's only so much that can be taken from the lands around them before they need to get supplies from across the sea.
>This is where smugglers come in. Hiding themselves among the massive slave caravans, they attempt to steal what was ordered of them, then leave the caravan before any of the slave masters realize what is happening.
>If all goes well, they raid what is needed in secret, leave, and no one is ever the wiser.
>At worst, you will hear stories of men and women racing across the parted seas as the ocean closes in around them.

What if each of Eight dark lord represents an execution method?

>Drowned: Underwater, water cavern, tentacles fish

>Burned: Lava, infernal fire.

>Strangled: ropes, prisons, bind

>Torn: Impale, blood, violence.


>Poisoned: poison venom plants forests elves

>>54521917
I think the Lords are more representative of what personalities their elements are associated with if anything else. Though I do love the idea of each Dark Lord having their own distinct execution methods.