The Far Sphere

Ina_meishou

Well-Known Member
#1
I've been feeling the urge to knock together a story about an evil psion (using Pathfinder rules as a base) out somewhere in the multiverse, originally as a sort of knockoff of Dungeon Keeper Ami. The idea was to put a crossover character that was smart, able, but also pragmatic and self serving in a position where they could function as an out of context issue for the 'natives'.

As a means of crossover, and to help avoid the medieval stasis inherent to much of D&D/Pathfinder, I turned to spelljammer, then started modifying it to move even further from the stasis.

But spelljamming over any distance needs a crew, a larger ship for air and supplies, all sorts of things, so this snowballed rather quickly into needing a setting for these people to come from.

So below are several characters, including the psion, not with statblocks, since I'm trying to avoid game-play abstractions intruding on narrative, but in general terms. Also included are some notes on the region of space the characters come from, the level of tech and basic political stuff.

What I'm after with this thread is general constructive criticism and suggestions, preferably with included rationale. If something doesn't make sense, how doesn't it, what would make more sense in it's place?

Additionally, ideas about what setting "the far sphere" should be, or if it should be something entirely original, would be quite useful. As with criticism, the reasons for suggestions offered would be appreciated. Other useful things would be character ideas, or what sort of character you would consider 'needed' by a party planning to run a longterm expedition without backup.

My current inclination is to have the spelljammer crew make contact with Ferelden (a society already used to dealing with outsiders with more wealth or strange things, as opposed to, say, Orlais or Tevinter where they're used to being on top) shortly prior to Duncan informing Cailan about the Horde. But other settings or other scenarios are all things I'd love to hear about.

Characters:

I have been called many things in my long years, Gnome, Beggar, Sorcerer, Elan, Nomad, Lord. I am Javid, Lord of Khaangit, captain of the Ihsan Govad and all the hundred souls within. But all these are unimportant this day, for today, after six months in flight, we breach the far sphere that has haunted my auguries. And all the riches within are mine to hold, if I can but take them.

Javid is an Elan, a being reshaped from his original form into a psionic immortal. Elan are not born, but chosen from among those who have already risen to greatness. He was once a gnome, a sorcerer of great skill and renown, but gave up that life in exchange for Immortality and a new form of power based purely within himself. He is primarily concerned with his own advancement, both in personal power and in wealth to fuel his lifestyle and his curiosities, which mainly involve exploration and trade ventures in uncharted space. Despite this, he is perfectly capable of working with others and even working for their betterment, so long as he sees some benefit or potential benefit for himself in the future. Though he is a titled noble in the Emerati Javed d'ho Jahan, he leaves the day to day management of his domains in the hands of regents, instead focusing on his exploration and adventuring. Though the transformation that made him Elan shifted his features, to most he is easily recognizable as a Gnome, if one of uncommon height. His skin is ruddy bronze and his overlarge eyes and wild shock of hair are silvery blue. He stands four and a half feet tall, commonly dresses in simple but well made tunics and trousers with leather boots and coats. In combat he favors light knives and a brace of six wheel lock pistols as a complement to his psionic attacks.



"Come, little one, and I will show you your life." So he said and so he did. The lives of my kind are often terrible, but mine has been good. I eat good food and sleep in comfort, and I have purpose. "This armor is your skin, inside it, you are safe." So he said and so it is. I am a shield as Babak is a sword. I stand to his defense as he destroys all that would hurt us. I am Fravardin, the guardian, and I am alive.

As a Half-Ogre, Fravardin was destined to a poor life, even in the cosmopolitan Emerati. He was found in the market streets of Samar by Javid nearly thirty years ago. Javid saw a potential use for the youngling, who was large even for one of his breed, and took him into his household. Fravardin was raised to know but one purpose, defense. When clad in his armor, he becomes a titan, immovable and almost unkillable, his very presence is enough to thwart most would be attackers. Fravardin is reasonably skilled with a variety of weapons, from swords to polearms to crossbows, but he is master of none. Instead, his focus is on scraping every inch of use from his armor and shield as possible. Therefore he is surprisingly fast and agile, even when covered head to toe in heavy plate. His driving motivation is the protection of Javid, whom he calls Babak, "little father". Fravardin is large even for a Half-Ogre, standing nearly nine feet tall. His skin is pale and his head shaven. He prefers to wear the heaviest armor available at all times, even when there is no real chance of combat.



I had second thoughts, once, when I longed to return to the convoy of the Sartamma Rav R'asa. Just once, before I remembered all the reasons I left them behind. The clothes I kept, and the tongue, tools to ease my way, to let others think they know who I am. But those are trappings even puyuria can mimic. I left rompien behind the moment I walked out of my father's ship and onto the docks of Samar, his shouts chasing me all the way. I am Prikaza, and while I sometimes doubt...I have never looked back.

Prikaza was born among the wandering Aperusa tribes. Like all Aperusa women, she was considered good for little more than storytelling, dancing and tending to housework. For a time she was content with these things, knowing nothing else. But as she grew, as she saw more of the world beyond the convoy and the peoples and places they passed by in their endless drifitng, she wished for a different life. One day, just after being told that her marriage had been arranged, she left, walking into the Samar dockside with no friends, no skills beyond entertainment, and no real prospects. With long years of work, she eventually found bard who took her on as apprentice. Eventually she took work as a spelljammer pilot, where she discovered her true passion. Prikaza values her own freedom and the chance to fly spelljammers. She especially enjoys flying ships to places she has not already seen, and so she has signed on as the chief Pilot of the Ihsan Govad. Like most Aperusa, Prikaza is lithe and dark of skin, hair and eyes. Though she has left her people behind, she still plays the part, largely as a means of misdirection. As such, she continues to favor the dress most people associate with the nomads, many layered skirts and lose blouses of wildly varied colors, often showing somewhat more skin than many would consider appropriate.


The World: Mostly important as it informs what the characters have available and how they might use it

The setting these characters come from, referred to hereafter as the ôKharnaktö, is a very different place than the region of space described in the original spelljammer material. Some of these differences come from stripping out game-play balance devices and rules abstractions such as the economy, others come from a desire for a different flavor. So before focusing on the actual setting, let's talk about the main differences.

Price:

In the Kharnakt, spelljamming is commonplace, and Helms can store spell energy to be operated by non casters (or casters who prefer not to lose all their spells). If the king of Hodunkt wants to invade Nabrillanta (or insert any two random names, the Kharnakt is a big place) chances are he'll have at least a few spelljammers to use as air support or troop carriers. A lot of the kingdoms/empires/republics/whatevers have territory on multiple planetary bodies. The reason all of this is possible is that in the Kharnakt, Spelljamming helms are not a monopoly of the Arcane, all the major powers and many of the minor ones can produce their own and sell them. There are even private enterprises that do the needed spellwork and enchanting. The Arcane, in fact, don't generally spend much time in the Kharnakt, because the market is flooded. They make much more money selling them for outlandish prices over in Realmspace, or Greyspace, or Krynspace etc. This basic principle of ônot as ludicrously expensiveö applies to pretty much everything. A simple healing potion doesn't cost five years salary for the average man, nor does a decent quality sword cost that same man his life savings. Magic and psionics are both quite commonplace, though high level effects are still quite rare and thus expensive.

Combat:

The wold of the Kharnakt is, like pretty much all the other settings, largely in stasis as far as development goes. It's a little further along than most, wheel-lock firearms are in use by most significant armies, though they're expensive and usually restricted to specialty units. Smokepowder is effective in every sphere of the Kharnakt, and thus is a common trade good and considered quite reliable given proper handling. Most ships rely on some number of cannon as a main weapon. That being said, this is still a setting where a sword or other melee weapon is going to be your major tool in most foot combat. A wheel-lock can take ten rounds to load properly using RL human ability, and even sped up for the stupidly fast reaction times used in Pathfinder combat, it would still be at least a round. This is very much the setting where you leap aboard the other ship pistol in one hand and sword in the other. Dungeon nautical punk, you might say.

Additionally, magical weaponry is also fairly common. Peoples that don't use cannon often use enchanted ballistae that shoot fire or lighting, and even cannon using species will use other weapons when the situation calls for it. Blast Discs are used routinely in commando raids and sabotage, and the issue weapon of any given armed force is going to have an enhancement bonus.

General information:

The Kharnakt is a region, and as such it's full of distinct societies. Roughly two dozen Crystal Spheres are considered part of it, though people from one region might include some that others, farther away, do not. One of the major powers in the region, and the one I'll be focusing on here since it's where the main character comes from, is the Emerati Javed d'ho Jahan. This means, roughly translated, ôThe Eternal Empire of all the Worldö. The common name for the empire is ôEmeratiö both inside and outside it's borders. Citizens use the term because it means ôThe Empireö, outsiders use it because it's less of a mouthful.

Emerati is a huge empire, ruling the entirety of the Crystal Sphere in which it originated. While most of these domains are at best loosely connected to the Emerati overlords, significant garrison fleets and ruthless enforcement of laws regarding subject kingdom fleets mean that what the Emerati lords say generally goes. The Emerati ruling family is a Kobold line, and claims descent from the original Kobold leaders who first united their tribes and began the conquest of the other races. Despite this, the empire is deeply cosmopolitan, with beings from almost any imaginable race filling positions of influence on almost all levels. Advancement is determined by a complex system that takes into account both lineage and merit, and allows for movement both up and down the social and economic ladder. Emerati is not a benevolent utopia. Rather, the leaders are pragmatists who prefer content and obedient subjects to enraged and rebellious ones.
 
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