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Science-Fantasy Story Setting

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Author Roy
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The dark angel returns...


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« on: May 02, 2013, 04:05:29 am »

I was bored and did this as a creativity exercise. A setting for a science-fantasy story. It was originally to be a FFRPG campaign setting, but I realized that very little of it was Final Fantasy specific and just got rid of what was. With a little finagling, this could easily be the setting for a DnD or FFRPG game, or even an original story of its own.

In the Hades system, Tartarus is the fourth planet from its sun. Tartarus has no moons, but instead a wide ring orbits the planet. It is inhabited by races of varying intelligence. The planet is divided up by four massive empires that have long since absorbed their neighboring nations through various means, be it conquest, or peaceful integration. There is also an area inhabited by primal people, and where powerful monsters roam. After centuries of being separated by these badlands and other natural obstacles, they have finally begun to make contact with their neighbors – at nearly the same time. Confounded by the discovery of their neighbors, they managed to establish peaceful relations for a time.

Styx – An empire populated by powerful magi. The people of Styx have made more progress in magic than science; their society is a feudal one, and their technology is iron-age at best. Though all are loyal to the reigning Emperess, Styx still bears the remnants of cultures foreign to the original kingdom’s. Lords, Daimyo, Khans and more all swear fealty to the Imperial Crown, which has absorbed every other royal line, be them Kings, Emperors, Sultans, Tennou, Huangdi, or Pharoahs – either by peace or by force – that once existed in the area. The current empress can trace her lineage to every major dynasty that once existed in the region, and is a concentration of royal blood unlike any ever before seen in the world. She (and her family) are considered to be sacred by the people of the nation, and are greatly revered by their loyal servants and vassals.
Government: Absolute Monarchy
Leader(s): Emperor (Inherited)

Acheron – An empire populated by those who have combined steam-era tech with the wonders of magic. A mercantile nation led by merchants that compete vehemently in domestic issues, but work together as stalwart allies when faced with outside threats. Their culture has mostly normalized, with only minute differences left from region to region. Their cities are lined with great towers of brick, burgeoning factories and growing populations leaving farms for work. The wealthy are the elite, and they spend much of their time making more money at the cost of the poor. Cities are actually owned by companies, whose policies are law, and citizens their patrons. Though there are three major companies that own the majority of the cities, there are many others, some of similar size, others much smaller and consisting of only one city.
Government: Plutocracy
Leader(s): Presidents of Companies (Appointed)

Lethe – A country where oil-based combustion technology is common. Science and magic have prospered here, but are not as integrated as with Acheron. The concept of free knowledge has begun to spread, but plagued with corruption rooted deep in the government. A republic.
Government: Republic
Leader(s): Senators (Appointed)

Cocytus – A country that has reached a technological event horizon. However, magic has long been outlawed, with magic-based technologies used instead, and only available to properly licensed people.
Government: Democratic Scientocracy
Leader(s): Grand Mediator (Elected)

Phlegethos – The badlands, where primal tribes and monsters powerful beyond imagination roam free. Their cultures vary greatly, especially between the different races, given varying natural tendencies.
Government: Tribal
Leader(s): Individual chieftains

Important Concepts –

Tartarus

Tartarus is a planet whose surface is 60% water, and 40% land, only half of which is habitable. The planet’s rotation is such that each day lasts the equivalent of 36 hours. Its orbital period around the local star is 243 days. Every three years, it is 244 days.

Beyond the boundaries of each nation, one finds only the Badlands and its nightmarishly powerful creatures, and the primal tribes that somehow manage to survive alongside them. Even the skies above the badlands are plagued with flying monsters the size of mountains and with gullets to match. Because of this, the people of this world had not even seen oceans until they reached space; the largest bodies of water were lakes and perhaps small inland oceans within a single continent. Thus, large scale aquatic travel was never even viable.

Monsters roam the lands of the countries as well, but are less dangerous in general. They aren’t harmless by far, but even the strongest of them would be easy prey for the beasts of the Badlands.

Space Travel

All of the developed nations have mastered a method of rising above the atmosphere. It is through this that they can travel to other places on the planet, bypassing the badlands entirely. Whether it is on the backs of magical creatures in the case of Styx, Airships in the case of Acheron, Rockets in the case of Lethe, or Anti-Gravity Engines in the case of Cocytus, all four of the empires have begun expanding into space. Platforms and satellites orbit the planet now, some shared, some belonging to one nation or another.

Planetary Ring – The Sky Arc

The ring of space dust and rocks that stretches around the planet has existed since time immemorial. By reflecting the local star’s rays, the Sky Arc extends daylight by two hours in each direction.

Power Balance

The balance of military power on Tartarus is surprisingly even. Each country has developed its own strengths.

Even though they are only iron-age in terms of technology, the people of Styx have mastered magic to the point of being capable of spells that rival fusion bombs, and can enchant regular steel to be as hard as diamond, let alone powerful metals like mythril or adamantine (or actual diamond for that matter). They ride on the backs of creatures and magical objects, some sentient, some not. From horses to dragons, magic brooms and carpets to floating fortresses, they have mastered the arcane on a level that other nations can only envy.

Acheron uses technological devices that draw out the powers of magical artifacts and raw magical energy. While in Styx, a wizard may spend years of study before becoming capable of using powerful magic spells, in Acheron spells can be reproduced by machinery and used by anyone. This, coupled with their steam era technology, gives them the power to stand on even ground with the powerful magi of Styx and the more technologically competent nations of Lethe and Cocytus.

Lethe uses modern weaponry, including firearms and explosives. Magic is also used here, but the magi of Lethe have not discovered as many arcane secrets as those of Styx. Most individual soldiers are capable of weak magic, however, including healing magic, to supplement their weapons and training. There are some powerful wizards and sorcerers as well, but they are quite rare. 

Cocytus has developed high powered weaponry far superior to even that of Lethe, such as rail guns and lasers, but their knowledge of magic and the arcane is almost nonexistent. All private citizens are outlawed from practicing magic, since it is deemed highly unpredictable. What little magic exists, is used by the state alone, in the form of magic enabled technology, similar to Acheron, but not to the same extent. Their technology is nothing short of amazing, however, on almost every front. From microbiology to computing science and to physics, the limits of technological ability have been relentlessly tested and surpassed. Common, everyday people enjoy personal anti-gravity vehicles, intelligent android servants, genetic and cybernetic enhancements, and an overall high quality of life.

Scenario

It has been ten years since contact was first established between all five of the major nations. Without any land borders to contest and space travel having just entered the realm of possibility for each country, relations have been largely peaceful.  Ideas, technology, and spells have begun to be traded amongst them. Cultures influence one another, and tourists and academics travel from one land to another, learning what they can of the other nations. There are those who have begun to happily intermix with others, leading to romance and international alliances and even corporate presence.

But there are also those who wish for less peaceful integration…


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