A design document blog for the development of a roleplaying game system being created by M.R.Maloney named The FARAD System.
Friday, August 14, 2015
Region: The Citadel of Memory:
The Citadel of Memory lays on one of the broken shores of The Northern Wastes, a remnant of ages long past. The citadel itself is a structure pre-dating the first Human settlement on Lenida after the shuttles from The Lost Station deposited the Dragons and Humans on its surface. Constructed of the same materials and similar design to the shuttles themselves, its towering spires were constructed by the scout ships which discovered and began the terraforming process on Lenida initially for the Dragons before they and later the Humans would arrive to settle on it. While its inner doors have been sealed off for millennia, many other chambers have been opened to reveal all manner of creatures and monstrous terrors designed by the citadel to populate the planet and make a more balanced ecosystem. Some chambers held riches, other toxins, and others still little of importance. Many expeditions have gone into the citadel of memory, but few have come back out, let alone remembered more than scant information about the place, all their recordings, pictures and notes badly deteriorated or otherwise altered to become corrupted...
Friday, August 7, 2015
Region: The Northern Wastes:
The Northern Wastes of Tesaria cover a stretch of land and ocean floor on the continent where few natural flora and fauna will grow. Mutant creatures roam the wastes and wreck havoc to the landscape, arcane storms and toxic rain beat and burn against it, causing explosions and strange alterations to land features, and few crops can grow in the corrupted land due to the magics and pollution, let alone remain pure. Despolis lays nestled in the southwestern side of The Northern Wastes with its domed habitats, but it is not the only thing that stands out amidst the chaotic landscape. The Church of Iron lays to the north of Despolis, supposedly an ancient human place of worship before the catastrophe that caused the first arcane storm in the region. Its walls may be rusted, but it has stood in The Northern Wastes for untold centuries, perhaps awaiting the right individual to unlock its secrets. Further north, The Breach Hole Museum covers a sealed rift to Pral, holding materials recovered from an expedition into that realm and artifacts tied to the rift's sealing, or otherwise linked to the region. Further to the east is the Citadel of Memory, the Rise of Nightmares, The Phase Hole, and the Arcane Drifts. The first of the four will be covered later, but most living on Tesaria have at least heard that its ruins predate those deep under New Hollowstone, below the ruins of Old Hollowstone, though little else is known of it. The Rise of Nightmares is a twisted butte upon which sulfuric acid pools bubble and pop, where rifts to Thelatos open and close too erratically for anything more than a glimpse, but that alone had made many explorers of The Northern Wastes declare it cursed and try to set protection wards there, none of which were found intact when others came later. The Phase Hole is further to the east, a deep hole with blinding light rather than darkness at its bottom, obscuring any detail of its true depth. Some claim that it contains either artifacts from the ancient war against the Adecrea, while others claim it contains a rift to The White Void itself. None yet have returned without babbling incoherently and attempting to illustrate extra-dimensional shapes, though some who have turned away have mentioned encountering a man in dark eyewear and a hat who discouraged their approach. All along the Phase Hole's length foci crystals grow into the blinding light, as well as around the rim, which draws some brave souls to try to harvest them. The Arcane Drifts, on the far east edge of The Northern Wastes, is filled with arcane sandstorms and cracklestone among many other dangers, but the brave of heart and foolish of wisdom may perhaps find a rift to The Shifting Sands of Jahneer there, if certain traveling salesmen are to be trusted...
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Item: The Heartstealer:
Item: The Heartstealer (9/10th Kg) (Rare) (Marvelous)
(Cannot be sold once bound, 50 GP if not bound) (4) (2 EP) (Cursed):
A cursed soul-bound glove weapon, The Heartstealer allows the user to expend one of their own HP to literally rip another being's heart out of them if their attack lands on a being whose combined HP and EP (including bonuses) is less than three times the character's physical damage from their strongest bare-handed attack, and the other fails a 1d10 save. On ripping out the other being's heart, the character can squish it to kill them if they have only one heart which they need to survive, or magically turn it into a phylactery for that being at a cost of 20 FP, or puppeteer the being for 1d10 turns at a cost of 3 FP per turn. For every day the character wears The Heartstealer, they lose 1 HP and suffer -3 Charisma for that day. If they use its power, they expend an addition 2 HP and 3 FP per usage. At the end of every week if The Heartstealer has not not been used on another being, the character also loses an additional 1d10 HP. [Refueled, Arcane, Draining (Blood)].
A cursed soul-bound glove weapon, The Heartstealer allows the user to expend one of their own HP to literally rip another being's heart out of them if their attack lands on a being whose combined HP and EP (including bonuses) is less than three times the character's physical damage from their strongest bare-handed attack, and the other fails a 1d10 save. On ripping out the other being's heart, the character can squish it to kill them if they have only one heart which they need to survive, or magically turn it into a phylactery for that being at a cost of 20 FP, or puppeteer the being for 1d10 turns at a cost of 3 FP per turn. For every day the character wears The Heartstealer, they lose 1 HP and suffer -3 Charisma for that day. If they use its power, they expend an addition 2 HP and 3 FP per usage. At the end of every week if The Heartstealer has not not been used on another being, the character also loses an additional 1d10 HP. [Refueled, Arcane, Draining (Blood)].
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Region: The Hole of Secrets:
In the Northern-most tip of Tesaria there are rolling fields which run from the coast to the edge of Ran'Lifon. Hidden amongst the fields legend says a mouth opens in the ground every solar eclipse and swallows flora and fauna. While none living have seen it themselves, there are texts dating back even to the ancient human ruins dug up underneath New Hollowstone that state that it has left no trace of the animals and plants it consumed. There are rumors, however, in ancient stories and songs, that The Hole of Secrets holds more than animal carcases within it. Robed strangers from distant lands who never revealed their faces, whose memory of visitation was removed from most who glimpsed upon them, opened the hole during lunar eclipses and full moons as well. During these fabled tales, the strangers bore treasures and potent artifacts some had deemed accursed or sacred, down into the mouth of The Hole of Secrets, which rather than swallowing them whole admitted them down a winding stairwell into darkness. While they were not seen to rise from it again, a flash of pale blue light emanated from the hole hours later, and it would be decades before the robed strangers or perhaps their descendents would be seen again. More recently, some have tried to test these stories by trying to mine in the area, but all attempts have led to massive magical backlash despite all magical sensors detecting no trace prior... It seems if one wishes to enter The Hole of Secrets to plunder its supposed riches, they have one of two options... Hope to survive being swallowed... Or be lucky enough to sneak in when the robed strangers appear once again.
Friday, July 17, 2015
Population Center: Askarr Colony:
While still a colony of The Great Suarn Empire, the Askarr Colony is much closer to the continent of Tesaria than it is to the government it functions under. As such, it greatly serves as a staging ground for potential defenses for or against the fledgling country, and as the power of leadership has changed hands four times since Tesaria gained its independence, the stance Askarr Colony has been ordered to take has swung between paranoia and welcome arms. Over the past century and a half, the military and governmental presence on Askarr Colony has largely been cautious with the people of Tesaria but still kept trade relations which have greatly benefited both governments. Askarr Colony also serves as facilitator of fugitive exchange from both governments if one had fled from Tesaria to Adslein or vice versa, and its customs agency and ability to help ships restock for the journey across the seas has made Askarr Colony a vital waypoint port for transportation between the two continents.
The majority of architecture in Askarr Colony is six centuries old, designed for stationing troops and shipbuilding for the empire, but it has since expanded to have more markets, many houseboat residences, and a strong fishing industry. The majority of those who live on Askarr Colony are Draconis Dragon-Kin, though the population has expanded to include all other species in the past century. Primarily, Gnomes, Pixies, Felinae, Kenthri and Reynix are scarce there due to the relatively crowded city's design, but some make their living either on the colony directly or through selling food grown on their greenhouse houseboats. Likewise, the Goblins and Gitwerg have created vast storage facilities under the city for its benefit while begrudgingly sharing the mining rights deep under the colony's shores. Naiads and Cubi tend to work in the fishing industry most, but some have also taken to cultivating underwater plants and salvage operations. Gargoyles are not very fond of the lack of natural great heights in the colony, but an artificial rookery has been worked on for the past six decades offshore with the aid of other species, letting them create a vast trio of towers with which to also aid in allowing a few airships to dock and launch.
The majority of architecture in Askarr Colony is six centuries old, designed for stationing troops and shipbuilding for the empire, but it has since expanded to have more markets, many houseboat residences, and a strong fishing industry. The majority of those who live on Askarr Colony are Draconis Dragon-Kin, though the population has expanded to include all other species in the past century. Primarily, Gnomes, Pixies, Felinae, Kenthri and Reynix are scarce there due to the relatively crowded city's design, but some make their living either on the colony directly or through selling food grown on their greenhouse houseboats. Likewise, the Goblins and Gitwerg have created vast storage facilities under the city for its benefit while begrudgingly sharing the mining rights deep under the colony's shores. Naiads and Cubi tend to work in the fishing industry most, but some have also taken to cultivating underwater plants and salvage operations. Gargoyles are not very fond of the lack of natural great heights in the colony, but an artificial rookery has been worked on for the past six decades offshore with the aid of other species, letting them create a vast trio of towers with which to also aid in allowing a few airships to dock and launch.
Friday, July 10, 2015
Population Center: Ran'Lifon:
Dug into a great ravine in northern Tesaria, Ran'Lifon is a goblin colony built looking down at underwater ancient human ruins. While its population is almost entirely goblin, it does not consider itself part of The Goblin Federation as its residents attempt to focus their development looking to nature and ancient goblin texts and customs long considered useless to the general goblin population. However, as the goblins living in Ran'Lifon have prospered greatly and located many magical and technological discoveries in the past few decades, The Goblin Federation has tried to strongly convince them to join the federation. New Hollowstone, meanwhile, has extended diplomatic relations with them since Ran'Lifon was formed, while letting operate wholly on their own unless they requested aid. When rarely it has been called for, New Hollowstone, Oak Hill and Gear Rise have offered their support, and slowly it seems that Ran'Lifon's younger generation has grown interested in the idea proposed by New Hollowstone that the city have roads made to reach it for better transportation and general travel, as well as other benefits to the region. The elders are more wary given the trappings of changing the land to suit their needs, rather than serving the land... But some may have been swayed due to recent translations of their ancient texts giving them greater knowledge on how to create a compromise that benefits them and the lands they serve...
Friday, July 3, 2015
Population Center: Despolis:
Crouched amidst the barren hills and valleys of The Northern Wastes of Tesaria, the citizens of Despolis weather a multitude of ever-present dangers. Surrounded by arcane storms, toxic rain, rampant mutant creatures roaming the wastes, and extremely little land in the wastes capable of growing edible crops, let alone those able to remain pure despite the corruptible magics and pollution, it is no wonder that the majority of Despolis' population remains safe within its domed cities. While it is ever expanding into the wastes and building new domes to protect restored land, Despolis primarily relies on its arcane defenses and the ancient human technology left behind there to maintain its disciplined order. Those who reside in Despolis are few, primarily the best and brightest who seek to learn from the city built upon human ruins. Eighty years ago it was located in the Northern Wastes when an ever-present storm in the region seemingly vanished and the city's first dome was revealed. While there is no distinction between species in terms of their employment opportunities, few Naiads, Gitwerg, Gnomes, Felinae, Kenthri, and Pixies choose to live there due to the dangers nearby. Humans, Cubi, Goblins, Reynix, Draconis Dragon-Kin and Gargoyles are in abundance there, most seeking to make the city more efficient, though there are the occasional individual laying low in Despolis because few are insane enough to look for them there.
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