Space-Fantasy Setting Ideas

Space. The Final Frontier. These are the voyages of a madman. To boldly go where no elf, dwarf, halfling, orc, goblin, dragon, etc. have ever gone before.

First, Orcs. What are they doing in space? Orcs were indigenous to a lush but mountainous planet. These mountains were chock full of rich deposits of ore used by dwarves to build ships and all manner of machinery. Naturally, the dwarves swooped in with little regard for the natives that they considered savages. Attacks were made. Battles were won and lost on both sides but, ultimately, the primitive orcs were no match for the technologically superior dwarves. The dwarves began taking orcs as slaves to work in their mines and factories. The dwarven empire had a vast trade network comprising hundreds of planets. The dwarves soon realized that orc slaves were also a valuable commodity with which to trade.

Goblins. Where there are Orcs, there are Goblins - intermingling or existing in their own distinct tribes. This and their physical similarities reinforces the notion that Goblins are a sub-race of Orcs. One in 20 orcish offspring are actually Goblins. One in 20 goblin offspring develop into Orcs. One in 100 offspring of both races develop into an Orclops - a giant, one-eyed Orc.

Dwarves and Elves. Dwarves and Elves live in neighboring star-systems and were among the first races to begin interacting via interstellar travel. There are notable differences between their technologies. Dwarven tech is big, heavy, tough, and...terribly inefficient. Also highly pollutant. Little thought is given to aesthetics or egalitarian concerns by Dwarven engineers or, for that matter, by Dwarves as a race, generally. In Star Trek terms, Dwarves are sort of a mish-mash of Klingon and Feringi culture.

Elven tech is quite the opposite of Dwarven tech. It is light, highly efficient, and produces little to no pollution. As a consequence, Elven tech tends to be very fragile and takes longer to produce. While Dwarves take a mass production approach, Elves do not. Elves are not consumed with making tech and trading it for profit, unlike Men and Dwarves. In Star Trek terms, Elves are Vulcans. Like the Vulcans, there are elements of mysticism in their culture. Virtually all Elves possess psionic abilities of some nature. Which reminds me. While Elves are technologically advanced enough and capable of interstellar travel, they have little need or desire to do so. Their society is very egalitarian and 'green'. They use very little, produce little waste. recycle most waste, and live lives that are very connected with nature.

Of course, Man is somewhere in between the Elves and the Dwarves in many senses, including technology. Where Elves and Dwarves are long-lived and few in number, Man is relatively short-lived and prolific. Man is the most dominate species in the galaxy, not because of their long lives or advanced technology - but by their sheer, over-whelming numbers and their insatiable wanderlust. To most Elves, Man is a galactic plague. While many Dwarves would agree with the Elves, it seldom fosters any hostility. To dwarves, humans are a vast sea of profit. It is estimated that 50% of the habitable planets and moons in the galaxy have been colonized by humans. Elves have kept to their home planet and it's many moons. Dwarves colonize quite a bit but mostly on a temporary basis. They setup colonies where there are resources, strip the heavenly body of it's resources and move on. This would seem to make Dwarves the true plague of the galaxy but their small populations and usual practice of restricting their mining operations to worlds without sentient life keep this criticism at bay.

Halflings. Where there are humans, there are usually halflings - intermingling in human society or existing in their own distict communities. This and the facts that no one really knows their true origin and their resemblance to humans, reinforces the notion that halflings are simply a sub-race of humans.

Kobolds, Devils, Gargoyles, Demons, and Dragons
These creatures are all native to the Dwarven homeworld but have since spread to nearly all populated planets that support life. Kobolds (sometimes called Gremlins) are small and easily sneak aboard large cargo ships and lay their eggs. Lab studies have determined that rougly 1 in 50 Kobold eggs produce Devils or Imps. This creature is basically a Kobold with wings. One in 500 Kobold hatchlings develop into Gargoyles. These creatures are larger than Kobold, have wings, and a slightly higher intelligence. One in 1,000 Kobold hatchlings develop into Demons or Dragon-men. These creatures are much larger than Kobolds, have wings and a superior intelligence. Dragons. One in 2,000 Kobold hatchlings will grow into a Dragon. If left undisturbed, Kobold populations form a hive with a Dragon as the queen. She has the ability to lay eggs that hatch into Kobolds, Devils, or Demons as she sees fit. (Obviously, the ideas here flow from the Aliens movies.)

Psionics and Magic
Its all the same. I will refer to it as magic. Various characters will refer to magic by various names depending on their backgrounds. In general, psionics refers to lower-level forms of magic that manipulate a creatures senses or cognitive processes. Illusions and mind control are often considered psionic. Trip could be as well. In general, if the magic has no visible manifestation or method of transmittal outside of perception, it tends to be viewed as a psionic ability. If the magic has visible manifestations and methods of transmittal (Rope, Fire, Shadow, Fireball, etc.) it tends to be viewed as 'magic', sorcery, witch-craft, etc. A true and truthful practitioner of such abilities would tell you that it isn't psionics or magics. It is simply a more advanced form of science. Practitioners tend to think of it as an art-form and a science. After all, there are repeatable, teachable procedures that produce somewhat predictable results. As one's skill with the art increases, the results become more predictable.

Drow. In their ancient past, a banished sect of Elves colonized some world and became the Drow. Think Vulcans and Romulans.

So, take all of this and fast-forward 1000 years. The various races have intermingled quite a bit on habitable planets. A Galactic Federation of these worlds is formed. Dwarves have stopped using Orcs and Goblins as slaves, instead using robots and droids.

Every 40,000 or so years, something happens that makes interstellar travel impossible - something disrupts the warp fields or something. Scientists can't explain it. It is noted, however, that these periods are also marked by increased encounters of seemingly supernatural or divine influences. Of course, these 40,000 year periods are so long that most of the knowledge of the previous period is lost. We have a setting for Space, Space-Fantasy, and Fantasy adventures. Just pick the epoch you want.

Wilderness 'geomorphic' Tiles

I'm not sure what use these things will be - to anyone or even me. For some strange reason, I'm completely fascinated with them.

Preview...

PDF (two tiles per page)
download

small tiles with rivers...

 PDF download

Random Solo (Hexless/Mapless) Wilderness Generation

In response to this post:  http://hillcantons.blogspot.com/2014/11/reader-query-random-solo-wilderness.html

I've been tinkering with random, solo wilderness generation for awhile now. I realized my basic method would easily transfer to a hexless, mapless, pointcrawl style of play. Here's what I have:

Create a list of regions numbered 1-20. Spatially, your abstract, mental map will be a 4 column by 5 row table of regions numbered 1-20 from left to right, top to bottom. Each region will have the following properties in it's entry:

Region #

Name:

Region Type:

Region Terrain:

Settlement Type:

Settlement Name:

East Neighbor:

   Path Length:

   Path Terrain (list):

   Road? (If yes, length is half of Path Length):

West Neighbor:

   Path Length:

   Path Terrain (list):

   Road? (If yes, length is half of Path Length):

South-West Neighbor:

   Path Length:

   Path Terrain (list):

   Road? (If yes, length is half of Path Length):

South Neighbor:

   Path Length:

   Path Terrain (list):

   Road? (If yes, length is half of Path Length):

South-East Neighbor:

   Path Length:

   Path Terrain (list):

   Road? (If yes, length is half of Path Length):

North-East Neighbor:

   Path Length:

   Path Terrain (list):

   Road? (If yes, length is half of Path Length):

North Neighbor:

   Path Length:

   Path Terrain (list):

   Road? (If yes, length is half of Path Length):

North-West Neighbor:

   Path Length:

   Path Terrain (list):

   Road? (If yes, length is half of Path Length):

Points of Interest (description and number; list):

Roll 3d6. The result is the region number in which you will begin play. You may make up a name for the regions if you like. There is a settlement in your starting region. Roll 1d3 to determine if it is a village, town, or city. Make up a name for the settlement and record this settlement in the entry for your starting region.

Determine the terrain of each region you visit by rolling 1d6 and consulting the following table. The number in parenthesis indicates the relative prevalence of that type of terrain in the region. It should be recorded. Record the results for each region. Do this now for your starting region.

d6 – Region Type – Region Terrain

1 – Type 1 – wetlands (3), grasslands (2), forests (1)

2 – Type 2 – forests (3), grasslands (2), wetlands (1)

3 – Type 3 – grasslands (3), forests (2), hills (1)

4 – Type 4 – hills (3), forests (2), grasslands (1)

5 – Type 5 – forests (3), hills (2), mountains (1)

6 – Type 6 – mountains (3), hills (2), deserts (1)

Determine neighboring regions using the following formulas and record the results in your entry for the current region.

East Neighbor = current region# + 1

West Neighbor = current region# - 1

South-West Neighbor = current region# + 3

South Neighbor = current region# + 4

South-East Neighbor = current region# + 5

North-East Neighbor = current region# - 3

North Neighbor = current region# - 4

North-West Neighbor = current region# - 5

Determine the Path Length to each neighboring region by rolling 1d6. Create a list of terrain along that path. The length of the list equals the Path Length. Determine terrain by rolling 1d6. A result of 3 or less is the dominant terrain type of the region. A result of 4-5 is the secondary terrain type. A result of 6 is the minor terrain type. The Path Length is a measure of time-units. I suggest 1 day time-units.

All regions are separated by rivers. Crossing a river should be impossible without watercraft or magic. At the very least, it should be quite difficult and hazardous to swim across. You may allow for a ferryman at the river along each path. The ferryman will charge 3d6 coins to ferry you across the river.

Roll 1d3. The result is the number of roads leading from this settlement into neighboring regions. Pick any neighboring region you want for the destination of each road. The length (in time-units) of the road is half of the Path Length to the destination. Roads allow passage over the rivers between regions via bridges.

You can wander in the current region. For each time-unit spent wandering, randomly determine the terrain traversed using the method for path terrain above. You may choose to only wander in a specific terrain type if you wish.

When you reach a new, unvisited region, determine it's properties as above. However, roll 1d6-3 to determine if there is a settlement. A result of 0 or less means there is no settlement.

The geographical results of these methods may sometimes seem implausible but they are not impossible. All that is needed at this point are various tables for generating encounters, events, and inhabitants.

Here are the general directions in which my thoughts flow regarding tables. Create encounter/event tables for each type of terrain (wetlands, grasslands, forests, hills, mountains, desert, roads, river crossing, and settlements. My tables for wetlands, grasslands, forests, hills, mountains, and deserts would start small and branch out to larger tables.

1d6 - Encounter/Event
1 - point/item of interest
2 - hazard/weather/event
3 - hazard/weather/event
4 - inhabitants (animals, monsters, persons, etc.)
5 - inhabitants (animals, monsters, persons, etc.)
6 - inhabitants (animals, monsters, persons, etc.)

Each of those categories would require rolls on more or larger tables. Tables are where things get personal. Season to taste for the type of game or play-experience you wish to create or consume. Settlements and 'dungeons' branch even deeper into their own pointcrawl generation methods.

Vertical Dungeon Maps

Vertical dungeon maps. Does anyone use them as the sole 'dungeon map' in their RPG gaming? I wouldn't think so. They are so linear in nature. They don't have to be. You could turn the whole thing on it's head. Where a traditional dungeon map branches horizontally and delves vertically with stairs that lead to other maps, a vertically mapped dungeon could branch vertically and delve horizontally with doors that lead to other vertical maps. Still, the vertical dungeon map seems best suited for a type of game that is linear in nature - like a board game such as this:

http://kotaku.com/the-best-3d-castlevania-is-this-custom-made-board-game-1656604092

Counters

updated 2/17/2015 - minor changes to elves, females, and sasquatch; added eagle/owl-bear thingy
 
Right click the following images and 'Save Image As'. Then open in MS Paint. Set to 'Portrait' and 'Actual Size'. Set margins to 0.25, then print.

B&W

COLOR

To make a 7-hex dragon, use a 4-hex dragon and a 3-hex dragon as it's head. I actually prefer this as the head can turn and swivel.

Keep Calm

Simple Random Dungeon

I plan to use this with a Death Maze / Citadel of Blood type of game that uses battlemaps and TFT-ish rules. When the player(s) encounter a doorway, he will roll 1d6 to determine what sort of portal is really there. Possibilities include: locked door, stuck door, and an open doorway. A similar procedure follows when a door is encountered but the results are as follows: [1][2][3] Wall (no door), [4] Locked Door, [5] Stuck Door, [6] Secret Door.

The smaller rooms use a one-page battlemap while the larger rooms use a two-page battlemap. Here is the current version of the battlemap (first page):

The red smudges are blood. The black smudge in the center is a scorched area of ground. The remaining symbol represents scratch or claw marks on the ground. For each of these marks (blood, char, and claw), 1d6 will determine what type of terrain or obstacle is located there (if any). The 1d6 roll will replace what is 'embedded' in the map with [4] rubble, [5] pillar, [6] ?(undecided as yet). The char and claw marks have no bearing on play. However, if the blood marks are not 'over-written' by the die-roll then those spaces impose a -3 DX penalty on their occupants (Slippery Floor).

Hexmaps: Alternative Symbols and Numbering

I came up with these symbols when trying to develop wilderness map geomorphs. The symbols can be rotated without looking like they've been rotated. I think they capture as much 'feel' as traditional terrain map symbols. They have a sort of  'top-down' perspective.

an example map...

This sort of map can be easily filled in a program such as Paint on the computer or printed out black and white and colored by hand. Also, note the alternative hex-numbering system. A10 is forest. I2 is wetlands. Numbering each hex in a hexmap really detracts from a map.

Here's a colored version:

I've been told that my color choices can put people's eyes out. Sorry. Pale and faded colors hurt my eyes. Dark colors don't provide enough contrast for my eyes. I like primary colors or black and white.