Lightbringer d20adaptation Main Page

Welcome to The Seven Satrapies. This World was written into existence by Brent Weeks, author of the Lightbringer novels ("The Black Prism", "The Blinding Knife", and "The Broken Eye"). Finding the world fascinating I wanted to construct a D20 system within it. Although there will be significant changes made (the final book of the series has not come out yet, and therefore many of the gaps are filled via postulation and personal creation) all artistic credit should go to the author. Also, much of what you read will be directly quoted from the Glossaries and Appendixes found at the end of each book. For the sake of simplicity there is almost no citation; but it is a safe assumption that all information found in this project flows directly from the text of the novels.

The following pages are listed in the same order that I recommend them to my players.

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lightbringer d20adaptation Party Scheduling and time as a Mechanic

Party Scheduling and Time as a Game Mechanic:

Game and World Primer: The Seven Satrapies:

Player/Character Knowledge, Character creation Metamechanics, and Character Retirement:

The Seven Satrapies is a Theological Oligarchy ruled by The Lord of Light, The Father of All, Orholam. The Chromeria (the Capital) was founded by Lucidonius a little more than four hundred years ago. It is governed by three ruling bodies: "The White", "The Spectrum", and "The Prism", and it's worship is overseen by the High Luxiats. Within The Spectrum there are Seven Colors, each is the representative of a Satrapy as voice and vote on a ruling council in the Chromeria. The White is the primary Governing individual of all of the Chromeria and can be thought of as the President. The Prism is the Emperor of The Chromeria, and although Zie has their own vote on the council, this is often a primarily ceremonial role.

This world will not have spells, nor will it have traditional "magic". But In the same way that a candle burning turns something tangible (i.e. tallow and wax) into something intangible (i.e. light); Some humans have the capacity through the force of will to take light and turn it into something tangible (material called "Luxin"). This process is known as "Drafting". It is rare for anyone to be a "Drafter". Each color has its own set of properties and capacities. But be warned, in the same way that fire will melt a candle, drafting will change a person. More information about drafting and about the Seven Satrapies can be found in the "Lightbringer_d20application_General_Player_Knowledge" Page.

The world that i plan to place us into is rife with conflict. It is an alternate reality from the "LightBringer" series written by Brent Weeks (if you choose to read the books, imagine if Dazen won the Prism War). My vision for this game will be a bit different from many D20 games, mostly because there are so many different "objectives". There are seven nation-states that are all unified under one ruling body, but some of the states are publicly (and privately) at war with each other (e.g. The "Blood War" between Blood Forrest and Ruthgar). So depending on your character your goal might be to become the strongest Drafter in all of Chromeria, or it might be to end the Blood War once and for all (either through peace or by gaining pure and total dominion for your family), or it could be as small as best the village bully and live happily ever after. Your Character's goals can be anywhere from living on a farm, to joining a military unit, to becoming sole ruler of everything on this side of the Everdark Gates.

Here is the Meta: Your characters will be fragile. Very fragile. If your character manages to get swept up in a war, a stray bullet might kill you as the two sides clash. But although death is the end of your character, it is just the beginning of the game. In this game, the first person named Promachia (Caesar) Wins. (Male: Promachos, Female: Promachae)

Here is the difficulty: Your characters must be complete people. I will challenge you. I will drive you. Your beloved farmer that you spent so long in creation with might not survive three sessions, and for that i am sorry. (although only partially. i'll explain in a bit). please understand this to be a creative exercise. That we are world building together, that we are telling new stories, crafting complex characters, and practicing strange skills together. This act of creation is beautiful, even if your paper sons and daughters are mere fuel for the fire.

BUT. (and here is where it is only partially) Because there is a winner, the board will also reset. Your dead characters can be revised, recast, and reused.

So- You are a higher dimensional being playing with history at your whim. If you need a refresher on player/character knowledge start here. If not go to number 2.

1. There is a sharp distinction that must be made between what a player knows and what a character knows. For instance: I, myself, might understand that fire is a chemical reaction that requires oxygen. But I, my character, Sanson, only understands that fire is hot and blowing on soup cools it down. I recently was part of a campaign based (VERY VERY LOOSELY) on the first thanksgiving. Our LG Cleric was swindled into unknowingly distributing small pox blankets to a tribe of natives. After discovering that the man she received the blankets from was of evil intent, she tried to cleanse the blankets. The party spent 10 minutes trying to figure out how to disinfect them, before someone pointed out that the cleric would have no idea what infections are. So instead of boiling and washing the blankets in lye, she would simply try to cure any form of magic or divine trap in the blankets. For examples of 8th century thinking vs. 20th century thinking this seems pretty straight forward. But it is much more difficult to separate when you as a player know a character's motivations, or what worldly events are transpiring beyond the perception of your character, and what your character's knee jerk reaction to a slight would be.

2. I plan on being a stickler for holding people to their character knowledge. But YOU as a player get to decide your character's history, aspirations, and quirks. So, if you created a farmer, your character might not know that a rampaging horde is soon to massacre everyone in your village; but you as a player know that you don't want to create character in this horde's warpath. You get to strategize and metagame to your heart's content. You are a nameless, unknown God, that has decided to make this world your plaything. What wind-up toy soldiers will you think of to send down the rabbit hole?

There are two types of progression in this game: Character levels and Karma Levels. This page deals with Carnation levels. And almost every page after this will be set into tiers based on Player Carnation Level or a knowledge DC made by the Character.

IF YOU ARE A PLAYER PLEASE DO NOT READ PAST YOUR ALLOTTED INFORMATION ON THE PAGES.

Here is the balancing factor. Carnation Levels change how efficiently you can put your will into a character's creation. Not many of us, given the choice, would prefer be born to a struggling farming family outside of a war zone than into an economically stable peaceful suburb. This is the mechanic for player-power creep. It decreases the likely hood of anyone receiving an unfair headstart. Case in point, i know exactly which family gives a character the greatest chance of player achieved victory- but from the get go i dont have the Carnation Level required to put a character there with the benefit of all of my knowledge.

So. Here are the mechanics: Your character comes into play with a list of goals. If your character fails to achieve their primary goal in a lifetime, you lose five Carnation Levels. If you, as a player, cause the death of another player's character, you lose two Carnation Levels. If your character achieves a minor goal, they gain two Carnation Levels. If your character achieves their primary goal, they gain twenty Carnation Levels.

Character Death and Retirement: A Character can die or retire at any moment: they may lose the will to go on or simply find a home where they would rather live a quiet life happily ever after.

Carnation Levels: 1-40: If that Character has achieved their Primary Goal: Then the next character generated received 80% of that Character's XP Allotment. If that Character has NOT achieved their Primary Goal: Then the next character generated receives 110% of that Character's XP Allotment.