#sector23 — Public Fediverse posts

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) final meta post

Well folks, I'm done. Tried to make it to June 30 but this head cold done me in.

I want to thank those who encouraged me. I would have given up long ago if not for you.

This project was a love letter to The Adventure Zone Ethersea and @evilhat's Scum & Villainy, and I hope one day they get to see it.

And maybe some day I can polish what I have into a full playable setting, with stats and all. Who knows?

Full project at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_0PQbrp8Xrz38q8aj4stnmuChmkEMRe8yigHZrd6EFQ

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) entry 6/11

Anchar Leudz’s Traveling Goods (location - The Vast)

From time to time, any mariner crew might find itself, despite the best preparations, without one or the other of several essential goods to any ocean voyage: rations, spare ship parts, fuel, or small bits of entertainment to make long journeys bearable. With luck, these wayward mariners will encounter a tiny, round submersible operated by a...

[full post & archives at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_0PQbrp8Xrz38q8aj4stnmuChmkEMRe8yigHZrd6EFQ]

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) entry 5/7

full text available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_0PQbrp8Xrz38q8aj4stnmuChmkEMRe8yigHZrd6EFQ

Tech and Magic in the Alhezar (background)

The people of the Alhezar enjoy the benefit of wondrous technology and uncommon magic, often outside the ken of the average citizen. Mariners travel in propeller-powered submarines but live in arcane bubble domes. Transoceanic communication is fast, but not instantaneous… yet. True robotics and artificial people are rare, but not unheard of. Individuals with years of training and magical talent can perform impossible feats, but charlatans abound. Near-modern science and fast food chains coexist with medieval cathedrals, explorer societies, and tomb raiders. The feel of the setting varies between pre- and post-industrial by location, with hints of the magic punk genre thrown in.

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) entry 5/4

full text available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_0PQbrp8Xrz38q8aj4stnmuChmkEMRe8yigHZrd6EFQ

The Congregation of the Bountiful Depths (faction - establishment [revision])

The largest of the state-sanctioned churches, the Congregation is dedicated to a pantheon of ocean deities adopted by Balforam after the founding of Second Hope during the Great Cataclysm. The Congregation’s doctrine is far from the only religion practiced, but it enjoys great popularity due to its cozy relationship with the Monarch. Under the leadership of Archbishop Zephirus Eek, the Congregation has begun a holy quest to obtain a new holy relic to display in its Grand Cathedral: a bezoar taken from the stomach of a living Dream Leviathan, a unique creature found only in the deepest reaches of the Delvin Trench. This quest puts the Congregation at odds with various factions, including the Endless Void (a cult worshiping the Dream Leviathan), and P.I.T.A. (a terrorist animal rights group).

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) entry 4/30

full text available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_0PQbrp8Xrz38q8aj4stnmuChmkEMRe8yigHZrd6EFQ

Argunt'heit, the World Turtle (legendary location - The Vast)

Centuries before the Great Cataclysm, a surface creation myth placed the entire world on a sea turtle’s back. In truth, there is a species of giant sea turtle, exceedingly rare, that travels the world’s oceans, with flora growing on its shell such that it could be mistaken for an island. Amazingly, these 'world turtles' are home to a variety of life, including an amphibious people, the Zaratan, who live in isolated turtleback villages and meet up every 20 years or so – according to the turtles’ migratory patterns – for a year-long communion to exchange goods, news, culture, and people. Balforam mariners’ folktales tell of a single world turtle in the Alhezar, named Argunt’heit in the stories, though none speak of contact with the Zaratan living on it.

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) meta post

full text available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_0PQbrp8Xrz38q8aj4stnmuChmkEMRe8yigHZrd6EFQ

A big part of my focus lately in creating these is making smaller or more low-key locations that I could see setting a mission around. I'm labelling them as locations, but many of them are less "a place you could hang out" and more "what if heist here?" That's proving more sustainable when I feel like I'm hitting diminishing returns in fleshing out the bare bones of the campaign setting.

An interesting aspect of this project that I never expected is that I'm able to shift focus whenever a certain approach proves to be unsustainable, making the whole project sustainable in a way. Full up on factions? Make more locations. Full up on points of interest? What about heist targets? Revisit an old entry occasionally. This project has lasted longer than I ever expected, and I'm proud of it.

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) entry 4/29

full text available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_0PQbrp8Xrz38q8aj4stnmuChmkEMRe8yigHZrd6EFQ

The Playroom Imperiale (location - The Vast)

Balforam elites often have time (and money) to kill. Tare Crup, an entrepreneur from Destiny’s Reach, came up with a way to do it in style. The Playroom Imperiale is a massive luxury cruise ship, built using modified bubble dome technology, that travels slowly between the prefectures. Guests who can afford passage on the Playroom get their own private suite and 5 types of high-end recreation: non-stop entertainment (plays, concerts, etc.), therapeutic treatments (massages, hot baths, etc.), invigorating physical activities (horse riding, swimming, etc.) in a simulated pastoral setting, an endless buffet of various foods, and gambling at the world’s largest casino. Lest the Playroom become a slow-moving target to pirates, the ship is escorted at all times by a cadre of Riptide ships. Woe be unto anyone who attempts to disrupt the fun.

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) entry 4/28

full text available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_0PQbrp8Xrz38q8aj4stnmuChmkEMRe8yigHZrd6EFQ

Laboratory 201 (location - Durgan’s Landing)

Near the back of the Science Dome in Durgan’s Landing is a concrete and steel building that has been rebuilt more times than any other structure in the entire prefecture. The experiments that take place in Laboratory 201, as it is now called, usually involve the iterative development of volatile and unstable substances into offensive or defensive tools, and with these kinds of experiments every success comes on the back of countless complete – and often explosive – failures. Weapons developed through L-201 have been instrumental to Balforam military waging the previous war, as well as the current one. Unfortunately, L-201 materiel also occasionally ends up in the hands of dangerous criminals, such as the Ghost Harriers, as well.

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) entry 4/27

full text available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_0PQbrp8Xrz38q8aj4stnmuChmkEMRe8yigHZrd6EFQ

The Pious Loon Bard (location - Second Hope)

In a back alley in Otter’s Causeway in Second Hope, a hanging glass sign depicts an anthropomorphized loon, wearing a mendicant’s shabby rags, juggling three golden balls. This sign designates the storefront to a pawn shop, The Pious Loon Bard. Compared to the cramped and austere entrance, the inside of the shop is deceptively roomy, with a wide assortment of odds and ends on offer at discounted rates. Locals in the Causeway know that if there is an urgent need for cash, The Bard will give a few coins for possessions of value. Goods of questionable provenance occasionally end up on sale at The Bard as well, although the proprietor, Usur Landon, is adamant that The Bard does not welcome thieves.

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) entry 4/26

full text available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_0PQbrp8Xrz38q8aj4stnmuChmkEMRe8yigHZrd6EFQ

The Wizards of Wagato (faction - weird)

A wider departure from the Garangal faith than even the Followers of the Living Saints are the Wizards of Wagato, a band of self-proclaimed monks, self-taught to pull off a handful of the magical feats commonly associated with warrior priests in children’s stories, but without any of the doctrine, discipline, or faith. The Wizards travel from settlement to settlement within Garangal territory, performing flashy tricks and demanding food and shelter in the name of the Hierophant. In truth, however, they are little better than a gang of con artists and, occasionally, thugs. Most of the Wizards started off as runaway children and street urchins, until they crossed paths with an older Wizard and learned a more lucrative path to follow.

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) entry 4/25

full text available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_0PQbrp8Xrz38q8aj4stnmuChmkEMRe8yigHZrd6EFQ

Followers of the Living Saints (faction - weird)

Most outsiders view Garangal spirituality as homogenous. This is true for the most part, but there are offshoots so different as to be unrecognizable. For instance, the Followers of the Living Saints care little for the Hierophant or the Coral City, and instead live in isolated communes where they serve and worship one of several individuals claiming to be living incarnations of the Garangal saints. These living saints perform minor miracles and share wisdom as part of what their followers see as a new doctrine of enlightenment. Before the War, the Hierophants were content to embrace or ignore offshoots of the main faith, but Orgl Borgl, the new Balforam-installed hierophant, is under pressure to bring all Garangal in line, and so the Followers are now actively persecuted as heretics.

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) entry 4/24

full text available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_0PQbrp8Xrz38q8aj4stnmuChmkEMRe8yigHZrd6EFQ

The Freeboaters (faction - criminal)

The Freeboaters are a loosely-affiliated company of independent ships, generally ex-military, hailing from all over the Alhezar, who serve as ships-for-hire, either individually or, for the right price, in squads. Most of the company’s crews are experienced in naval combat, and do good work as naval escort and security, protecting against pirates and natural dangers alike. Most of the Freeboater captains have little love for the Monarch or Balfora, though the company on a whole lacks the organization and drive of a militia or standing navy, and have never come together as a single unit to achieve their goals, the lone saving grace preventing them from being seen as too great a threat by the Remnant Fleet.

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) entry 4/23

full text available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_0PQbrp8Xrz38q8aj4stnmuChmkEMRe8yigHZrd6EFQ

The Remnant Fleet (faction - establishment [revision])

A division of Balforam military vessels left behind to guard the home front while most of the royal fleet is off on Monarch Yelzner’s Grand Crusade to conquer the world’s oceans. The Remnant Fleet regularly patrols the prefectures, but frequently returns home to naval base Memory of Famet for repairs, resupplies, drills, and R&R, and to the Naval Yard in Second Hope for some other operations. The Fleet is commanded from its flagship, the RFB Bullshot, by Rear Admiral Ambrush Firesides, a strict leader and veteran of the Garangal War, who not-so-secretly believes the War ended prematurely, and is preparing for a reopening of hostilities with the Garangal. The Remnant Fleet is a fraction of the full size and might of the Balforam military, but is still more than a match for just about any opponent still remaining in the Alhezar Ocean.

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) entry 4/22

full text available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_0PQbrp8Xrz38q8aj4stnmuChmkEMRe8yigHZrd6EFQ

The Lost City of Illicium (legendary location - The Vast)

Long before the Great Cataclysm brought humanity below the sea, legends in Old Balfora told of Illicium, a lost Balforam island colony that sank beneath the waves of the Alhezar Ocean thousands of years ago. In some of the stories, the people of Illicium adapted to the sea and prospered. Since the founding of Second Hope, mariners have occasionally shared stories of encounters with reclusive humans, or at least people resembling humans, who did not appear Balforam by custom or clothing. Speculation has tied these encounters to the legendary Lost City of Illicium, and an old legend took on new importance. If the legends are to be believed and Illicium is real, then it is likely that the city would have had some dealings, historically, with the Garangal, and possibly even the Pron.

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) entry 4/21

full text available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_0PQbrp8Xrz38q8aj4stnmuChmkEMRe8yigHZrd6EFQ

Fabled Groups and Legendary Places (background)

There are countless factions operating in the Alhezar Ocean, but not all are well-known or documented. Likewise, there are many points of interest in the Ocean, but some of the most interesting ones are far off the beaten path. These fabled groups and legendary places are so labeled because finding them, sometimes even confirming they truly exist, is a challenge for even the most skilled crew. One does not simply visit the Forever City, for instance. First, one hears rumors of its existence. Then, one corroborates those rumors, researches the legends, cross-checks them against historical records, and discovers one – or many – potential sites. Then the journey to those sites is laced with perils and pitfalls, false starts and dead ends. It is a true adventure in itself.

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) meta post

With today's entry I'm adding a new faction type. Over the past few months I've described a handful of factions and locations that as rumored or legendary. I want these kinds of people and places to exist in the world I'm creating (at the players' discretion, of course), but I've struggled with how they would fit into the interlocking framework of the other factions and places I've described.

I've settled on setting them apart, as an optional subset of the world for keepers to add (or omit) as needed.

The new "fabled" faction type takes care of the rumored factions, but I still have a few similar locations to deal with. I want to make clear that "legendary" locations are optional, secret, and hard to reach, not waypoints on a world map that players can just select and visit (or even know about, really) without completing a challenge first. Maybe a background post is in order.

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) entry 4/20

full text available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_0PQbrp8Xrz38q8aj4stnmuChmkEMRe8yigHZrd6EFQ

The Profondati (fabled faction - establishment)

There are some on the fringes of society who believe that an elite handful of individuals, believing themselves deeper and more enlightened than the masses, control governments and steer the course of human civilization from the shadows, through the use of propaganda, agents, and world events. This elite group, it is said, holds more power than the Destiny’s Reach Association of Commerce, or the Shell Counters Consortium, or the Benzene Gaslight Order, even the Order of Shipwrights or the Monarch. The Profondati, if the story is to be believed, control the whole world, even going so far as to orchestrate the Great Cataclysm in order to reduce the human population and relocate it somewhere where it could be more easily manipulated. Of course, no one rational believes these ideas, but occasionally one has to wonder…

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) entry 4/19

full text available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_0PQbrp8Xrz38q8aj4stnmuChmkEMRe8yigHZrd6EFQ

Marvone Aquarium (location - Destiny’s Reach)

Within Destiny’s Reach nestled deep under the surface of the ocean, in the heart of the Civic District, the Balforam have reached the height of human excess in the Post-Cataclysm age and built an aquarium to prominently – and somewhat inauthentically – display the very sealife that the bubble dome was built to keep out. The Reachers, having killed off most of the wildlife right outside their city, have imported more sealife from further away to bring right into the city in a government-funded (but still for-profit) institution ostensibly dedicated to learning and preservation. The Marvone Aquarium is site to frequent protests, not only for keeping sealife in captivity but also for the outlandish price of admittance.

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) entry 4/18

full text available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_0PQbrp8Xrz38q8aj4stnmuChmkEMRe8yigHZrd6EFQ

The Snowfish Graveyard (legendary location - The Vast)

The Snowfish is one of many remarkable and rare creatures in the Alhezar Ocean, so-called because of the sparkling trail of ‘snowfall’ it leaves in its wake. The ‘snow’ actually comes from a species of bioluminescent, iridescent crab mites that live symbiotically with the snowfish. The discarded snow mite carapaces are highly sought after for their use in Reacher fashion, and, due to the snowfish’s rarity, as valuable as precious stones. Legend has it that dying snowfish migrate, along with their snow mites, to a hidden spot somewhere in the middle of the ocean, a veritable treasure trove of snow mite shells waiting to be found. Many treasure hunting mariners have been lost at sea trying to locate the snowfish graveyard, but to date none have been able to.

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) entry 4/17

full text available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_0PQbrp8Xrz38q8aj4stnmuChmkEMRe8yigHZrd6EFQ

The Blue Mussel (location - Second Hope)

There are many pubs and taverns in Second Hope, and the Blue Mussel, located right past the docking ports in the Naval Yard, does not particularly stand out among them. Due to its location, the tavern patrons are mostly mariners, shippers, and low-lifes, and there is a palpable sense that a fight could break out at any moment at the slightest provocation, and that most of the regulars would enjoy participating. It is an open secret that the tavern’s owner, Jem Elnit, is no fan of the Monarch; however the bigger secret is that Jem also runs the Lampreys, an anti-monarchist group that occasionally performs high-profile attacks on high class and government targets. The biggest secret of all, of course, is that the group is secretly backed by Lord Gilroy Flotsworth.

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) entry 4/16

full text available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_0PQbrp8Xrz38q8aj4stnmuChmkEMRe8yigHZrd6EFQ

Saint Gug’s Grace (location - Gangalang)

During the height of the Garangal War, Balforam blockades made things tight for the Garangal people living in Gangalang. Food grew scarce at times, and a contingent of Garangal established Saint Gug’s Grace, a food bank, in the Faithful Cluster, to help people get by. Even now, with the War over, Balforam occupation forces extract a lot of wealth and resources from the Coral City, and so people still have less, and continue to rely on Saint Gug’s Grace. The food bank sources its food from wherever it can: surpluses, secret farms, and smugglers. Accessing these assets, and financing them, is a continuous challenge, but no one in Garangal goes hungry as long as Saint Gug’s Grace carries on.

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) entry 4/15

full text available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_0PQbrp8Xrz38q8aj4stnmuChmkEMRe8yigHZrd6EFQ

The Litany Endless (location - Gangalang)

Gangalang’s coral structure follows a natural fractal pattern that is mesmerizing to the eye. At the heart of the Temple Cluster, the oldest part of the city, is a spiral of coral that forms a long chain of nearly identical chambers, one after another after another, each dedicated to one of thousands of saints in the Garangal faith. A popular prayer among the droves of pilgrims visiting the Coral City every year is to observe the Litany Endless. Pilgrims start at the bottom chamber and work their way up the spiral, spending a full day praying to and contemplating the patron saint of each room, until they run out of time or a priest blesses them. Few pilgrims ever make their way to the last chamber. Faithful servants supply modest food and drink to the pilgrims, clean the rooms, and care for the priceless relics contained in many of them.

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) entry 4/14

full text available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_0PQbrp8Xrz38q8aj4stnmuChmkEMRe8yigHZrd6EFQ

Karisse Maintains It All (location - Destiny’s Reach)

Nestled in the Market Dome at Durgan’s Landing is a repair stall, unremarkable in its appearance, but unique for who runs it. Karisse is a sight to behold: diminutive but tough, made of metal, stone, and wood but animated by unknown means. Karisse recalls no birth; the mechanic’s memory goes back centuries, but gets hazier the further back it goes. As far as anyone knows, Karisse has just existed all along, joining small settlements of different kinds of people for a time, eking out a modest living as a supremely friendly, but fierce and shrewd, peculiarity. There are no stories of others like Karisse, and so this little repair stall in the heart of the bazaar remains one-of-a-kind. Also, nobody repairs machines as well as Karisse can, which is pretty impressive too.

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) meta post

Fun fact, I actually have a writing/publishing credit, for contributing to a 3P D&D 4E supplement way back in the 00s. I have an author/designer page on rpggeek and everything. But it's all under my real name, which I now keep separate from my online identity to protect my career and family, so 🤷. It's just interesting trivia now, nothing more.

I was an active #ttrpg blogger back then, posting new content and advice for DMs. I even made ttrpg legend Uncle Bear's list of top ttrpg bloggers one time. Then I stopped ttrpg gaming and dropped off the face of the earth for about a decade, focusing on IRL stuff (career, family, etc). The ttrpg world forgot about me, as it goes. I came back to gaming in 2019 or so. I still see some of my old contemporaries hanging around, and the company I wrote for is still going strong, but I can't tell anyone who I was or I'd be doxxing myself. Oops.

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) entry 4/13

full text available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_0PQbrp8Xrz38q8aj4stnmuChmkEMRe8yigHZrd6EFQ

Taymor Hydrothermal Collectors (location - Destiny’s Reach)

The sprawling aquapolis of Destiny’s Reach is powered by a series of six facilities gathering and processing energy from the scalding hot water ejected from hot springs on the seafloor around the city, out past the Tragic Commons. Each hydrothermal collector gathers enough energy to satisfy approximately a quarter of the city’s baseline average power need, with the excess energy covering frequent spikes and surges in use, and also being stored and sold to the other prefectures for profit. After the energy is collected and processed, it is stored in heavy metal canisters that are then transported to the city. The primary facility, Taymor Hydrothermal Collector One, also houses admin and maintenance infrastructure for all six facilities, though of course the Taymor Corp headquarters is located within the city proper.

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) entry 4/12

full text available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_0PQbrp8Xrz38q8aj4stnmuChmkEMRe8yigHZrd6EFQ

The Shoal (location - Durgan’s Landing)

The Shoal is Durgan’s Landing’s version of a town hall, taking up approximately one quarter of the Market Dome. The day-to-day business of running the Landing happens here, including regular meetings: some public, many private. Additionally, three of the Founders, including Durgan, have their principal offices in the building.The Shoal is home to the settlement’s archives and treasury, and headquarters to the settlement’s minimal standing security forces.

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) entry 4/11

full text available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_0PQbrp8Xrz38q8aj4stnmuChmkEMRe8yigHZrd6EFQ

Rileah College (location - Second Hope)

Among the more obscure schools at University City in Second Hope, the Rileah College of Forgotten Lore is often the most overlooked. The school has less than 100 students, and its curriculum consists largely of the study of religious practices of many pre-Cataclysm civilizations, as well several from under the sea, including Garangal and Pron. The College boasts one of the largest libraries of non-Balforam religious texts. While the curriculum purports to be strictly objective in its approach to the subject matter, some in academic circles have commented on the quaint and curious nature of the faculty, and some have even questioned the logistics of how so many ancient volumes managed to be saved during what was supposed to be a hasty evacuation from the surface.

#Dungeon23 (#World23 #Sector23) meta post

Switching to smaller locations seems to have helped me get over the inspiration wall. The problem wasn't coming up with ideas, it was coming up with ideas that fit in a theoretical finished book, using the Scum & Villainy setting information as a model. I could wax philosophical about minor phenomena and people and organizations forever, and keep iterating on that. But this isn't so much worldbuilding as suggesting the contours and outlines of a world that a hundred groups of players will flesh out in their own individual and valid way.

At some point I'm going to have to look back at the factions, weed some out, possibly add more, and come up with mechanical details for them: tier, goals, allies, enemies, NPC names, etc. I was doing that with each entry in the beginning, but it was time consuming and difficult given the lack of content to interact with. Now that I have the broad strokes of the world, it should be more doable.