The
current Fantasy game uses Yrth, from Gurps Fantasy, as it area of operation.
The GMs are;
Currently Mark Vennemeyer
And Mike Wilson and Jeff Dale (when we game in their respected area's of
control)
History of Yrth
Simply put, our world is similar to the Fantasy Sourcebook, but we (Mike and myself) disliked several aspects of how that Yrth was set up. So we went about recreating the world ourselves. Basically the world is your standard type of fantasy environment.
There
are many different races, magic, old enemies, new enemies, treasures, etc.
This
is a Tech level 3 world.
The time is July 1997.
Originally
only three (3) races, Orcs, Elf and Drwaven, populated Yrth.
The Orcs fought with both races as it was their nature.
At some point, the Elves and Dwarves fought each other.
They agreed to a peace, but still are bitter about the whole war.
AT
some point in time, a separatist group of Elves (aka Dark Elf) tried to cast a
magical spell that would remove all of the Orcs from Yrth.
It failed miserably and instead opened a gateway that brought over dozens
of new races (including humans) to Yrth. Occasionally,
that spell comes back into existence and opens up a small gateway somewhere on
Yrth. The original Banestorm (as
the spell has become known) happened some 800 years ago.
The most recent Banestorm (small one) happened almost 20 years ago.
This
a whole planet. You can find any
type of topography/climate/geology you want somewhere on this planet.
Generally similar to our Earth (aka temperate climate, edible and
poisonous flora and fauna), water covers approximately 2/3 of the world
[although most people don�t know that yet], etc.). Currently we are playing on
the continent of Ytarria.
Almost
every Fantasy race (found in Fantasy Folk Source book) can be found on Yrth,
except one. There are elves,
humans, dwarves, gnomes, orcs, unicorns (rarely), lizardmen, Minotaurs, giants,
ogres, hobgoblins, etc. The only race that does NOT exist on Yrth is Dragon. This is simply because the GMs decided not to use them for
reasons of our own. On a side point, a Dark Elf does NOT look different form any
other elf. If you wan to make an
Elf that looks �different,� that is entirely up to you as a player.
In
the corner of the world, on the continent of Ytarria, we use (and players are
likely to originate), there are three (3) major powers, two (2) �half�
powers, and many individual �city-state�/kingdoms.
Starting
small,
I
mean a �city-state�/kingdom is basically any small, independent, self-ruling
area. This can include the �Dwarven
Mountain Kingdom of King Thundler (a.k.a. Thunder Mountain)� or the �tribal
lands of the reptileman Claww tribe� or even the �Elflands of the Great
Forest.� These areas a small
(usually only a day or two travel time) in size but can hold a dozen to a
thousand people. In General, all of
these political entities are either allied with a larger power (closest to them
geographically) or too small to be noticed.
For
role-playing effect, you can be from anywhere you want for your own history.
These small kingdoms are just opportunities to be used, as a player wants
for his background.
The two �Half� powers are the City of Tredroy (modified, see below) and the
Zuhdrad Nation.
Tredroy is run by one of the GMs, Jeff Dale. He has the Tredroy Source book and likes to play the city fairly closely to the book. Tredroy IS the largest city in the known world. However, the other GMs dismissed the claim that Tredroy was 500,000 + people. Based upon logistics of supply, health concerns, and ruling control; the size of Tredroy is ~50,000 to 75,000 people. This is still a significant size city. It is larger than any other city on Yrth. Tredroy is located at the corner of the three Major powers. While each of the majors would like to control Tredroy, but to commit such resources to take the city would leave the attacking nation vulnerable to the other two. To wit, Tredroy dances on the razor�s edge, and is quite careful not fall over. Any questions regarding Tredroy, its areas, or resources (for Character creation) should be directed to Jeff Dale (e-mail is [email protected]).
The
Zuhdrad Nation is the �evil empire�
for our game. Just over a year ago
(in game time), the Zuhdrad Army (aka The Horde) finished a war with two of the
other Major powers (the Empire and the Papacy). The Zuhdrad people are actually Bales (racial home for this
package). The Army attacking was
made up of most of the �evil� races in the book (orcs, hobgoblins, ogres,
Minotaurs, Dark elves, human mercenaries, etc.).
The
Zuhdrad Nation is located to the North.
When
we started with this a line of characters (none of those PCs are still around),
everyone fought in the War. It
lasted almost 3 years. Note: you
can be from the Zuhdrad lands and NOT be evil.
Most of the people are just �people.�
The rulers of the nation may have their own ambitions on world conquest,
but the people under their control are just making a living and may or may not
be violent, ugly, vicious, gentle, selfish, self-sacrificing or any other
emotional state of mind. If you want to be from the Zuhdrad lands, let me know
and we will �talk.�
As
stated, there are three �Major Powers� in this corner of the world.
They are (for simplicity) described as follows:
The
Empire (run by Mike Wilson, e-mail [email protected])
is the largest and most diverse of lands. It
is loosely based upon an Ottoman Empire, although without so much of the desert.
The
Papacy (run by Mark Vennemeyer) is a
religious oligarchy (Church is in charge).
It is loosely based upon the Holy Roman Empire.
The
Kingdom (not actually run by anyone
at the moment) is a Feudal Monarchy. It
is loosely based on the Camelot Sourcebook (although there is NO round table of
knights).
In
detail.
The
Empire is very spread out. We game
at the western edge of the Empire. It
is at its lowest population density here. Empirical
control of the western side is also at its weakest.
This does not mean it has �no presence,� but rather the presence of
the empire is MUCH stronger as you go farther east.
The Empire is theoretically the most powerful nation on the planet, but its size and length of borders with many different nations pose several problems. The �attitude� of the empire is �Live and Let Live.� This is a relaxed mentality and allows for the great diversity of races to �just get along.� Many independent nations exist inside of the Empire. It is a good source/point of origin to create a non-human PC. Of course, you can play any type of human you desire from the Empire.
Any
question regarding creation of a PC from the Empire, should be directed to Mike.
The
Papacy is a tightly controlled area that has suffered several setbacks in
more recent times. It �was� the
most powerful nation, but no more. It
still is a significant threat to any would be revolutionary or such.
The Church of Instrumentality and its Lord High Papal control the Papacy.
There IS a king of the Papacy, but
he is strictly a figurehead (aka Great Britain in today�s world).
There
is some agent of the Church in almost every town/village in the Papacy.
This person supplies moral direction and magical abilities (as he/she is
able to) for all of the citizens, as they need.
For
role-playing terms, the Papacy is (by and large) a Low-Mana zone.
There are spots of normal or High Mana, but these are few and far apart.
As a balance, the Papacy is a High Sanctity area for the Church of
Instrumentality (if you don�t understand what I just wrote, don�t worry
about it. It has little affect on
game play). The Papacy supports (aka
tolerates) almost all races, but (mostly) only if they are �Citizens of the
Papacy.� Independent nations
inside the Papacy are few, but not unknown.
The
Papacy occupies the West-Northwest side of the Game world.
Inside Papal lands are the Blasted Lands.
The Blasted Lands is a chaotic stew of Mana levels, races, horrors,
geography, portals/gateways, etc.. The
Blasted Lands are rumored to be the original location of the Banestorm.
The Blasted Lands are an excellent point of origin for any �odd�
character (but you can make a �normal� PC from there, if you wish.
Any
desire to originate in the Papacy can be directed to the current GM (Mark
Vennemeyer [email protected]).
The
Kingdom is mostly undefined as a role-playing area. The original GM who was
going to run it, quit gaming with us before he ever did anything.
Historically, it was supposed to have been part of the Papacy that broke
off onto its own nearly 200 years ago. There
was supposed to be some resentment between the Papacy and the Kingdom. The
Kingdom is located to the West-southwest area of the game.
It was going to a military power where Slavery was strictly forbidden.
If
you want to come from the Kingdom, direct your inquiries to Mark (the current
GM). I will make something up for
you.