Editing The Dawn After Steam: Setting

Jump to: navigation, search

Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.

The edit can be undone. Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
Latest revision Your text
Line 11: Line 11:
 
But the war ended in a way that few expected: a frighteningly sudden lurch and collapse.  The Rozhodní naRhadí, the clockwork golems who had populated so much of the Steam army and state bureaucracy, rebelled.  Reports flowed out of the Kingdom of Steam involving the implosion of the Turning Citadel and massive amounts of people being slaughtered by their former tools.  After a reign of terror, the Rozhodní naRhadí organized a retreat of their kind to the fortress of Rossumesto.  Since then, they have actively avoided contact with the human world, with the occasional (and often inexplicable) exception.
 
But the war ended in a way that few expected: a frighteningly sudden lurch and collapse.  The Rozhodní naRhadí, the clockwork golems who had populated so much of the Steam army and state bureaucracy, rebelled.  Reports flowed out of the Kingdom of Steam involving the implosion of the Turning Citadel and massive amounts of people being slaughtered by their former tools.  After a reign of terror, the Rozhodní naRhadí organized a retreat of their kind to the fortress of Rossumesto.  Since then, they have actively avoided contact with the human world, with the occasional (and often inexplicable) exception.
  
−
==Power==
+
==Power: Artisanry==
−
In this world, the laws of magic, nature, and science are not differentiated. There are simply ways the world works.  As such, there is no technology vs. magic tension the way we usually think of it. Someone could smelt ore purely using methods we would consider scientific, but it would be much more efficient to do that while also speaking the right incantations over the metal.
+
Artisanship imposes one's will on the materials and energies of the world.  Wizards, gadgeteers, artificers, and crystal masters are all artisans. What we would call magic and technology are both expressions of imposing one's will on reality.  More accurately, in this world, the laws of physics & magic are not differentiated. Someone could smelt ore purely using methods we would consider scientific, but it would be much more efficient to do that while also speaking the right incantations over the metal.
  
−
Instead, the primary tension is a question of reaction and imposition.  Does an individual (or a society) gain power by imposing its will on reality, or by reacting and adapting to reality?  This sets up a spectrum of sorts, and all power in the world is situated somewhere along it.
+
The bigger divide is matter vs. energy. Most of what we would consider technology is dealing with the matter side of the equation: one manipulates inert, lifeless matter until it becomes a powerful item of some kind. Guns, airships, swords, potions ... these are all material imposition. Material effects can naturally arise as well. The weapon of the greatest swordsman in the world will become magical, and the field where a horrible battle took place will become cursed.  Creating fireballs, laying on hands, and many other effects we would often call magical are about manipulating energy flows. The farther down this path one goes, the less one can embed the effect in a material form. It's fleeting and often invisible.
−
 
 
−
Another theme involving power in this world is that the seeds of your own destruction are present within your power.  If your power is based on imposition, your fall will be related to hubris.  You won't be able to remake the world as much as you want, and sooner or later, reality is going to irritated with you hacking it constantly.  On the other hand, people who master adapting to reality in some level run the risk of losing themselves.  These people cease to have an independent free will; they devolve into pawns or become part of the ecology.
 
−
 
 
−
===Artisanry===
 
−
Artisanship imposes one's will on the materials and energies of the world.  Wizards and gadgeteers are both expressions of imposing one's will on reality.  As mentioned earlier, the laws of physics & magic are not differentiated.  The bigger divide is matter vs. energy, or what the focus of your imposition is on. Most of what we would consider technology is dealing with the matter side of the equation: one manipulates inert, lifeless matter until it becomes a powerful item of some kind. Guns, airships, swords, potions ... these are all material imposition. Material effects can naturally arise as well. The weapon of the greatest swordsman in the world will become magical, and the field where a horrible battle took place will become cursed.  Creating fireballs, laying on hands, and many other effects we would often call magical are about manipulating energy flows. The farther down this path one goes, the less one can embed the effect in a material form. It's fleeting and often invisible.
 
  
 
The benefit of this path to power is that the artisan (or an artisan community) is in control of their own fate. Unfortunately, this is also a path defined by a degree of hubris.  With great power comes an increasingly likelihood that things will go horribly wrong.  In many ways, this is the story of the Kingdom of Steam.  In the end, it was not defeated by a greater enemy, or even bad luck.  It was defeated when its own creations turned against it, destroying it from within.
 
The benefit of this path to power is that the artisan (or an artisan community) is in control of their own fate. Unfortunately, this is also a path defined by a degree of hubris.  With great power comes an increasingly likelihood that things will go horribly wrong.  In many ways, this is the story of the Kingdom of Steam.  In the end, it was not defeated by a greater enemy, or even bad luck.  It was defeated when its own creations turned against it, destroying it from within.
Line 25: Line 20:
 
This world is not industrialized. There are guns, the occasional airship, but no mass production. The physical and social infrastructure necessary for industrialization is simply not there. Some societies are more advanced than others, however.  The Kingdom of Steam came close to industrialization, but things ended badly for them. Things would also end badly for people specializing on the energy side of things, or someone who does both.
 
This world is not industrialized. There are guns, the occasional airship, but no mass production. The physical and social infrastructure necessary for industrialization is simply not there. Some societies are more advanced than others, however.  The Kingdom of Steam came close to industrialization, but things ended badly for them. Things would also end badly for people specializing on the energy side of things, or someone who does both.
  
−
===Patronage===
+
==Power: Patronage==
−
The other end of the spectrum involves adaptation, and the major representative form of powee here is patronage, this setting's version of divine magic. The Patrons are various cosmic forces and concepts. They are single-minded entities, each with an idealized view of what the world ought to be.  These idealized views may or may not make sense to humans.  Indeed, it is likely that the Patrons are alien intelligences, and any coherence perceived by human beings is an illusion imposed by humanity.  Nevertheless, Patrons are represented as masked individuals wearing stylized clothing of some form.  Most if not all have very specific ideas about what human societies should look like.
+
The second path to power is patronage, this setting's version of divine magic. The Patrons are various cosmic forces and concepts. They are single-minded beings that push utterly alien objectives, and they view humans as tools and pawns to further those objectives.  
  
 
One can gain power by giving one's self to a Patron, submitting to their will. It is common for a community or an individual promise to act in accordance with a Patron's wishes in specific ways (rituals, following taboos, etc.), and in exchange the Patron grants specific boons.  
 
One can gain power by giving one's self to a Patron, submitting to their will. It is common for a community or an individual promise to act in accordance with a Patron's wishes in specific ways (rituals, following taboos, etc.), and in exchange the Patron grants specific boons.  
Line 32: Line 27:
 
The Patrons love having insane or mindless instruments furthering their cause.  While most people do not see anything particularly wrong with a degree of patronage, most view The Listeners as dangerously unhinged.
 
The Patrons love having insane or mindless instruments furthering their cause.  While most people do not see anything particularly wrong with a degree of patronage, most view The Listeners as dangerously unhinged.
  
−
==Religion==
+
===Religion===
 
Beyond the Patrons, the world does not have institutionalized religions we would recognize.  There are a handful of highly mystical religions, but they are not as widespread and they do not offer any forms of divine power. The mystics have diverse views when it comes to artisanship and patronage, and just like all other organizations in this world, there are no mystic faiths that have managed to be truly widespread.
 
Beyond the Patrons, the world does not have institutionalized religions we would recognize.  There are a handful of highly mystical religions, but they are not as widespread and they do not offer any forms of divine power. The mystics have diverse views when it comes to artisanship and patronage, and just like all other organizations in this world, there are no mystic faiths that have managed to be truly widespread.

Please note that all contributions to RPGnet may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see RPGnet:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!

Cancel Editing help (opens in new window)
Retrieved from "https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/The_Dawn_After_Steam:_Setting"