>>66235775
I say we continue making tables for sea journeys

I'm glad this thread survived. I haven't made 1d4chan pages from scratch but I did back up the posts for once the thread clears the archive. We should probably get this setting somewhere permanent though.

>>66236393
I’m all for it, but am no good at making wiki articles.

>>66235775
Does anyone have a summary of the previous thread.

>>66237561
Most ideas weren't too related. Basically, this is a dreamlike nautical/urban weird fantasy themed setting that seems to draw inspiration from surreal painting, Sinbad/Odysseus-type tales, and China Mieville. It features fallen angels founding cities on the edge of reality, a race of human caterpillars who metamorphose into short-lived demigods, and technomagical turtle submarines.

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>>66236069
Weather events

Roll 1d10
>1 - Becalmed
The wind gradually slows, then stops for 1d10 days and nights, making travel by sail impossible.
>2 - Sea Mist
A thick, opaque mist spreads across the sea, engulfing the ship for 1d10 hours and preventing you from seeing farther than 10 yards in any direction.
>3-6 - Strong Winds
The wind doubles its speed for the remainder of the day.
>7 - Scorching Sun
The sun increases in intensity for 1d6 hours, growing so bright as to make the reflections on the sea painful to look at. Working under the sun becomes extremely draining and skin burns easily.
>8 - Rain
It rains unceasingly for 2d10 hours, hampering vision and making working on the ship difficult.
>9 - Cold Snap
A sudden frosty gale gives way to a lasting arctic chill. For 1d10 days, temperatures hover around freezing, frequently dipping below at night. On a roll of 8 or higher, roll 1d10; on a 7 or higher, there is a blizzard on the 1d6th day of the chill.
>10+ - Storm
A single dark cloud appears on the horizon, quickly growing to cover the entire sky. Then the storm breaks, raging for 1d3 hours. Hard rain, biting, powerful winds, and lightning strikes harass the crew throughout. The crew may attempt to outrun the storm by riding on the winds blowing it in.
On a roll of 3 or higher, roll a 1d10. On a 9 or higher, the storm becomes a Great Storm, a terrifying force of preternature that covers the sky with roiling cloud. Powerful winds blow in constantly shifting directions as vast waves toss the ship, threatening always to capsize it. Lightning strikes continuously around, sometimes seeming to show strange shapes barely discernible through the rain and dark.

I don't feel like I know enough about the effects the last 4 would have on ships, really. Does anyone else have any input?

I used "or higher" so much in case the crew gets some kind of artefact that would increase their rolls on this kind of table, by the way.

>>66239169
>I don't feel like I know enough about the effects the last 4 would have on ships, really. Does anyone else have any input?
It would depend on the ship, and that's all I can say. That part could be left to the GM

>>66237561
At the edge of reality, things existing and not existing gets sketchy at best.

This is the Fading Sea, where entire islands, wondrous civilizations and never-before seen species can be found among the storms and mists... Only to never be found again, as you cannot be sure if the ever existed in the first place. The only way to avoid fading into a dubious maybe-existence as the last true shoreline fades from view to sail tethered to the Wheels by nigh-unbreakable lines, going only so far as the thread will allow you, and then going home with riches never before seen in reality

>>66239663
>and then going home with riches never before seen in reality
...Until you have to sell most of it to pay for the cost of renting a Wheel. Such is life in Galgeleth.

>>66240317
>A common saying is that each ship leaving on a Wheel has a King for a captain, for only Kings could buy a Wheel.
>But every ship that returns is led by a pauper. Because how else could one afford a Wheel?

It's normal for Ships to finance their first expedition into the Endless Sea by collecting and selling everything outside the necessities of the Crew and Captain. Even then they still owe a debt to the Wheels to be paid on their return.

Those who do make large sums of currency are either regulars who have carved out a niche over years of work. Or people who have made special, labyrinthine deals between hundreds of people to the point that they require special people and machines to keep abreast of who owes what and when and why and to whom.

>>66235775
Anymore weird races? What do we have now?

>Butterfly People
>Prophetic People
>Horned People
>Giants
>Ice goblins

>>66241491
There exists three different species of mermaids at The Galg.

One look like slimy deep fish with limbs. They are suited for Descending and are most populous although not popular - moqtly due their smell. According to rumours, they have been at the City of Wheels forever. They are called the Mudders. Rumours also state that they are running an underwater smuggling operation in the smurky waters under the Galg.

Second ones are really fast and like jumping. Problem is that they cannot breathe air and such are forced to keep moving constantly. They make excellent scouts for expeditions. They are often called the Tailers for their beautiful tail-fins. They were once farmes but no more.

Lastly there is the Smilers. They resemble extremely beautiful humans but have only animal-like intelligence and are extremely carnivorous. As such they are more considered to be pretty sharks instead of real people. Yet they are too numerous to be exterminated completely. Apparently they migrated to Galg following a deeply failed expedition.

Are there forests by Galgeleth? They have to get the wood for ship maintenance somewhere, but I'm not clear on what kind of environment Galgeleth is actually in, except for 'on the coast'.

>>66242296
I'm imagining a coastline like the jagged cliffs of Britain, or something like the Giant's Causeway. I'd imagine reckless exploitation has destroyed most forests in Galgeleth's vicinity, and although a few are carefully maintained and curated (consisting of only trees that make the finest shipbuilding material), wood is still one of the chief imports from the Mainland

>>66242296
The Carpenter Guild only makes expedotions with medium-lenght tethers -
looking for islands with vast forests and quickly fills their fleets holds with as muh timber as they can.

As such the Expedition ships are constructed from very varied materials. But this solves the problem of pocuring wood from the Continent - which has been difficult since the crusades.

The position of Carpenter Guildmaster is much fought over and usually it belongs to one of the 13 Merchant Princes.

However currently the position is vacant due Lady Snirkinton the Third suffered an unfortunate Frogging. There is three master Carpenters trying to be selected and all are constructing Mighty ships to amaze all the other Carpenters to vote for them.

>>66242408
Being built at the top of jagged cliffs with complicated walkways or pulleys/lifts up and down to the wharf seems neat and thematic to me, stepping down from concrete reality to the shifting world of the Fade, with the cliff as the barrier between the two, Galgeleth alone transgressing.

>>66242296
I imagine the environs as being rather arid and gloomy, sort of North African, perhaps. Maybe it's because I'm looking at sad pictures of nighttime shores.

The culinary scene of Galgeleth is quite a unique one. Of course their diet is made up majorly of fish, but due to the nature of the Fading Sea, the kinds of fish are almost never the same. There are a handful of species that live close to shore, which are constants, but fishing out further ensures every mornings nets will be full of some bizarre new species washed in with the fade. Sea Serpent is also likely to be eaten, but due to how tough and gamey Sea Serpent meat tends to taste, it's usually used for filler or peasant feed.

Nerekon likewise has an abundance of seafood dishes, but they also have a supply of poultry, as the sailing ship once discovered an island inhabited by some kind of large, albatross-like bird that was easy to catch and raise, thus providing the land with supplies of poultry and eggs. Those unaccustomed to the bird's taste find the flavor to be a bit bitter, but Nerekon citizens have growned used to the taste, and chefs are quite skilled at bringing a robust assortment of flavors from the plump gull.

>>66236069
Island Categories

Roll 1d10
>1 Floating Rock
Little more than an upjumped boulder, covered in slime and maybe bird shit. Usually barely large enough to fit a dozen men
>2 Desert Island
The classic island to be marooned on. Sand, a few trees of you're lucky, maybe some birds. Barely enough to sustain a man for a few weeks. On a d10 roll of 5 or more it has a fresh water spring or other useful mundane resource. On two consecutive rolls of 10 it holds a surprise, such as a marooned traveller, artifact or treasure of medium value.
>3 Atoll
Slightly larger than the Desert Island, a small ring of land surrounded by reef. The reef must be carefully navigated around. Fishing here is a good source of food, but there isn't much other use
>3 Tropical Island
An uninhabited island, larger than the Desert Island with more wildlife and plant cover. A single man could live here indefinitely if he was careful. A crew might strip it of food in a few months. On a d10 roll of 5 or more there is something special here, an interesting species of wildlife, ruins, abundant resources or something else. On a 10, it is equivalent to a large treasure otherwise it is a medium or smaller value.
>4 Inhabitable
A large island, big enough to sustain a small population indefinitely. It might be currently inhabited by a range of different types of civilizations (rolled separately I imagine), but no larger than a few hundred. Such islands often have ruins or other things to explore
>5 Island String
A small collection of islands, close enough to each they're always visible to each other, at least one inhabitable or larger. Such a formation could hold warring tribes or a large peaceful civilization. Underwater caves might connect them. At least one island is probably volcanic.
>6 A New World
A huge island, big enough to hold a population of a few thousands. Such islands often have valuable resources or at least enough mundane supplies to restock a ship if time was taken to gather them.

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The islands are constantly changing, but what about the seabed?

>>66244860
Last entry should read *restock a fleet
>7 Active Volcano
A smoking chimney surrounded by land. The island is young and its growing pains are obvious. It might be large enough to hold inhabitants or barely a jutting tube of craggy rock. Such places vary greatly in size. Valuable resources might be spit up from deep underground in the form of gemstones or rare minerals.
>8 Sunken Island
What once was above sea level now rests just below it. Or maybe it never quite pushed into air. Regardless, these are treacherous waters to navigate, hazards lie just below the surface. But there may not be a better place for a Descent.
>9 Natural Curiosity
Something is interesting or valuable about this island, in a mundane way. Perhaps it has a Blue Hole (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_hole) or significant cave system. Maybe trees for shipbuilding grow in abundance, or exotic and valuable wood, plants or animals are common here. Such places are usually dangerous for some reason, however. The Fading Sea doesn't have much in the way of freebies.
>10 Exotic Island
Something is special about this place beyond the normal strangeness the Fading Sea normally holds. Maybe the place is made of gems, or the springs here grant youth, or the dead walk about as if nothing happened, or the plants are intelligent. Perhaps it moves about on the back of some creature, or its artificially made by some technology. It is immediately obvious something is different upon setting foot on it.

>>66235775
Just as the moon controls the tides, so also is it the harbinger of the Fade. Hazy unreality waxes and wanes, advancing and retreating with the water in the eerie hinterland where stands Galgaleth. Twice a day, islands distantly visible in the haze swim slowly from view, and twice a day, they reappear - not always the same.

A spring tide closes Galgaleth's port. As the water laps high against the ancient seawall, to venture without a rope a stone's throw into the thick miasma brushing against the harbour's stone is to risk being lost.

The moon brings the Fade and the fog; the sun stands for solid reality. It is when these two bodies are opposed overhead, the spring tide, that the battle between the Fade and reality is most pronounced, and rages furthest this way and that. The sun god, Obon, the male god of light, order, logic, truth, authority, definiteness; the moon goddess, Suthi, the female deity of darkness, confusion, madness, lies, treachery and unreality - these two do all the people of the World worship, in various guises - even atheistic ones.

But it is not only the Sun and Moon that the Fade obeys. It pulses to stranger rhythms, too, that some whisper can be read in the stars. Certainly, nobody can predict when and how it will mount or ebb; or when there will be a Fadestorm that sends the people of Galgaleth huddling indoors around bright fires, knowing that when the oily rain abates, the town - and their friends and neighbors - will, in some unquantifiable way, no longer be quite as they were before.

>>66236069
Sailing event categories

Once for every [I don't know what's a reasonable distance for sea-travel. Some amount of miles roughly equal to average 3 day sailing speed], roll on this table.
Roll 2d10
>2 - Spoiled Supplies
Lose 1d6 days' worth of supplies.
>3 - Tether Tugging
Roll on the Tether Tugging table. ( >>66203779 )
>4 - Underwater Encounter
Roll on the Underwater Encounters table ( >>66204539 )
>5-8 - Weather Event
Roll on the Weather Event table.
>8-13 - Smooth Sailing
Nothing much happens.
>14-15 - Extreme Weather
Roll on the Weather Event table, but using a 1d6+4 instead of a 1d10 for the first roll.
>16-18 - Anomaly
Some manner of non-island encounter. It could be a sea creature, a ship (crewed or abandoned), or a strange structure, but something large-scale.
>19-20 - Land Ho!
Roll on the Island Categories table.

https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Fading_Sea


Have a blast. I'll bolt the tables in when I remember how mediawiki tables work.

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>>66246347
Thank you, anon! You're the best. I'm really glad this got saved somewhere permanent. Your formatting is nice, too. Good work!

>>66245210
It has been discovered that a deep chasm lies about three thousand miles beyond the coast of Galgeleth, a sheer drop to the unknown depths. It is postulated that it marks a boundary of sorts, as the coastwards edge of the chasm stays the same while the seawards edge seems different in every expedition. What lies underneath also changes - once you pass below a hundred meters down the chasm, the abyss starts to be different. As a rule to hardened Descenders, past the half-wreck of the Almardah is always unknown territory. Oh, the dangers and riches to be found below!

>>66246347
nice

This may be autistic, but OP's picture bothers me because I feel like the coast is on the wrong side.

>>66247673
Curiously, I'm the opposite, I feel like it's just the right direction for the Fading Sea

>>66247762
Yeah but it's the Coast of Maine. The east coast.

>>66235775
Somewhere in the fading seas there lies the Sawtooth Islands, a group of 5 large but freezing cold islands with 3 towns and 3 light-houses.

The towns are; Butchery Bay, Fort Spearpoint, and Keelston. Butchery Bay is where the average people live, Keelston is a town of ship captains and whale oil merchants, and Fort Spearpoint is now the nation's only military fort, though it was once a prison.

Fishing, lobstering, skilled sailor, whaler, ships captain, butcher, fish cleaner, oil maker, oil merchant, fish merchant, ship maker, lumberjack, bone carver, ivory carver, ivory merchant and carpenter are jobs that are common in the sawtooth isles.

Butchery bay gets its name because the worthless bits and pieces of whales and sea monsters are thrown out into the bay and left there, making it blood red and excellent shark fishing waters.

Coins from the sawtooth islands have a blood spouting whale on one side and 2 crossed harpoon points on the other.

The sawtooth islands was once a receiving point for for-life exile, it still sometimes is, but very few who now live there are exiles.

Noforsko is the most commonly spoken language, a language that resembles Faroese and is a union between several nordo-finnic languages.

The northern most island of the group is known as the Rock of the End. For a long time it was believed to be the furthest piece of land in the world from world-center, this may or may not be true. It is a large rock roughly 38 feet wide and 23 feet above sea level, with a single small room on it called the exile's chamber, where 1 person will find enough supplies to live a miserable, poverty stricken life.

All in all it is a brutish place filled with roughs, drunks, and cruel whalers.

>>66245739
Smooth Sailing shouldn't really be a category, since it's literally "nothing happens." I guess it's more true to life that most days spent sailing are pretty boring, but from a gameplay perspective it's just wasted time. It should be something more like:
>2 - Spoiled Supplies
>3-4 - Tether Tugging
>5-6 - Underwater Encounter
>7-10 - Weather Event
>11-12 - Weather + Another Event (reroll again if you get another weather or another 11 or 12)
>13-14 - Extreme Weather
>15-18 - Anomaly
>19-20 - Land Ho!

As for how often you roll, I'd say every 1d6 days of travel, or 1d3 days if they're Becalmed (with a reduced table, removing the last two possibilities).

>>66248242
How do the Sawtooth islands not Fade?

>>66249555
I'm sure they do, but they'd make for a much more detailed pre-generated place to explore than somewhere off a table.

>>66249643
Keep in mind that islands can't be revisited under most circumstances after they Fade.

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>>66235775
Interesting. I made a thread to a similar setting idea yesterday and was asking if anyone knew how to do gimmicks like tile exploration IRL - I wanted the central gimmick to be a map where you can place physical randomly drawn tiles.

I was pointed a lot to the Traveller RPG, which I've taken a look at and really like, but am unsure if it would work with what I had in mind without heavily modifying the setting to fantasy.

tl;dr: what system would you guys use for this setting?

>>66250080
I figured some kind of OSR thing?

>>66249643
>>66249866
I like the idea of islands not too far into the Fading Sea not completely fading, but disappearing for a time and then reappearing in a different place and with some different details

>>66251389
It seems interesting, but ultimately like something that could be left to the GM. In these matters, it's important to make that distinction

>>66251067
Things mostly fluff in an OSR system?
I don't think that an hexcrawl or similar would work in this setting

bump

bumpan

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>>66235775
An important question is: what would have to happen for the wheel to be reeled in? As in, you can't just "pull the rope" as every storm, wave and other event could cause that.
We have already entrys about ships being pulled back empty. Will they be pulled in when they stop moving for a certain time? Or do you pay for TIME on the wheel and not just usage (which seems the most plausible, but not really as exciting)?

>>66246347
Thanks a lot, man

>>66254583
The eldest Wheels can only be rented on a timely basis. And indeed, per day costs remains the most common portion of Wheel rentals.

The Lesser Wheels, the smaller ones that dot inbetween the Elders, tend to be more 'experimental' in what they offer. Not being confined by the sheer cost of Sea Serpent sinew.

One of these modifications is a conductive material threaded through the rope's core through which conductive signals can travel. Used to tell the Wheels to reel them in quick-wise.

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Many a young traveller, after travelling through the continent to Galgeleth from afar, hungry for adventure and fame, has been stopped dead in his tracks seeing the prohibitive price of a wheel. You probably have many questions... and for the low price of ensuring my glass is full, I will tell you what I know.
>Why go through the expensive process of sinking the capstan buoys?
- That's an obvious one, you might have gotten it yourself. First, a ship held by a rope over water isn't able to freely manouver in battle and can be easily tracked down. And secondly, it drastically lowers the incidence of knot madness.

(cont.)

>>66249555
that is one of the main mysteries of the sawtooth islands. Everyone, including the people who originally sent exiles there were expecting the islands to fade at some point. They never did. To date, not a single object person or location of the sawtooth isles has faded even a little bit. Some sages have said very speculatively that there might be islands of stability within the fading sea, locations which don't experience any fading because bizarre magical forces are exactly balanced.

>>66249643
I'd just shamelessly turn Invisible Cities into an archipelago. Any other books with that feel (barring Borges)?

>>66255661
Weirder, it doesn't merely not fade, it fades towards a signal history. If one tries to clear or muddy the mists of memory they always return to the precise blend of ignorance they once were. The price of Sawtooth's stability is even greater roiling chaos about it, a degree or two of poor navigation plunges you into a fade you'd expect to find leagues away.

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>>66255498
>Knot madness
In earlier days, when the wheels were young, the rope wasn't held to todays high standard, and would just float above the sea, tethered to a vessels stern. With sailors being a particularly supersticious group, many a ritual and custom were established to ensure the rope held. Touching the wheel before setting sail, throwing overboard a few things resembling sails (Belts, laces) to stop the rope from becoming envious etc.
Staring at the rope streching into the distance was seen as a particularly imprudent thing to do. There is a lot of made-up yarn out there, but the Knot-madness is real. Peering at the rope disappearing into the endlessness of the fading sea for long enough could make anyone go mad, with a mere length of rope being all that separates you from being lost in the fade. Sailors suffering from the beginnings of knot madness have been known to spend increasing amounts of time at the stern, just staring at the distant spot behind the horizont where Galgeleth waits. This progresses into an obsession with checking if the rope is still hanging tight and feverishly searching the ropelock for signs of damage. The last and final stage, after which knot madness is named, sees the sailor react with absolute terror everytime he is forced to leave the rope unobserved, and the imperative to tie themselves and their belonging to the ship by whatever means available. Intervention at this stage, wether by attempts to talk the victim out of their fear, quarantining or even punishing them will turn out fruitless. At this stage, sailors will either starve themselves to death, unable to shift their focus to worldly needs, or disappear from sight, just to be found having hung themselves from the ropelock or having fixed their bodies to the ship, at times in grotesque manners. May the god have pity upon them.

I hope the wording isn't too cringey, I'm not a native speaker

>>66254583
>Or do you pay for TIME on the wheel and not just usage
The biggest, high demand, Wheels are rented for time, usually this is a fairly long period, months to a year or sometimes more. Most Wheels have a grace period, of a few weeks before reeling (charged exorbitantly of course).
But an emergency reeling is a different matter. Sometimes a ship wants to be home as soon as they or needing to be pulled out of danger, and the fastest method is being reeled in. The signal for such a case is difficult to give, after all, possibly hundreds of miles of cable would need to be crossed. The classic method is a creature called a cable runner. 4 spindly limbs attached to an amphibious, insectoid looking and weirdly aggressive beast about the size of a large dog. They were bred from a type of parasite that lives on Sea Serpents of all types. They move quickly along the line and can run or pull themselves on it under water for days without rest. A cable runner arriving at the Wheelhouse is the signal to pull in a ship quickly. The method is not without its failings, cable runners have a tifht grip, but can be knocked off a cable occasionally, and for every creature in The Fading Sea, something will feed on it, and runners are no different.
Unfortunately a ship can only carry one runner, however. They die in the presence of their fellows for some strange reason.

>>66256915
What do you normally speak?

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Old soul. Where are you going, old soul?

>>66235775
What riches, artifacts, trinkets and baubles might one find on ones journeys?

>>66259035
Isn’t that from a game?

>>66259107
Commercial Goods.
Personal Goods.
Slaves.
Exotic Goods.

Knowledge.

>>66259107
All plethora. Ancient gold, piles of gems, lost artifacts of vanished civilizations, rare ores, spices, plants, animals, art, weapons! The possibilities are endless.

And if you're lucky, you may find yourself something powerful, something mysterious, something magical in nature. You could sell it, likely buy yourself a nice new ship or a hearty crew of able men, or maybe hold onto it, learn it's secrets, after all, Galgeleth has no laws against allowing citizens possession of more eldritch things, to each their own save for what they owe and sell, you know.

>>66259837
Speaking of knowledge, why would Galgeleth still be using wooden ships? It seems implausible that at no point did they encounter an island where people would teach them how to make metal hulls and engines and etc.. I'd imagine that just one guy learning about electricity and what it can do and bringing that back would be enough to spark (har har) a significant change in technology.
I guess you could say a language barrier stops them learning from islanders, but not being able to communicate with people you meet seems like it'd take away a fair amount of the fun. Maybe some magic mischief?

>>66260164
Production costs likely. I doubt Galgeleth has a steady, reliable source of metals, especially at the quantity needed to construct full ships. Where as it's far easier to acquire a steady supply of lumber. Plus, theres no telling if the world as a whole has ever reached that level of advancement so the knowledge may just not be out there.

>>66260195
That's true, mining islands would take a lot longer than scouring them of trees. Plus, one guy knowing metal hulls are possible doesn't translate to people actually knowing how to do it or having the skills to craft one.
People were posting in the last thread about modern/future tech level islands with full on battleships though, as part of the whole "you can find anything on the Sea" idea. I guess it's up to the GM, but I'd imagine they've at least heard of the idea. Maybe one of the Princes is pouring funds into trying to figure out how they work, and in the near future he'll make the first windjammer.

>>66260300
I'd say metal hulled ships and engine-driven ships, while a possbility, are still more of a curiosity than a standard feature, and most vessels are still Age of Sail level in technology, especially since few are willing to risk a powerful marvel of technology out on the Fading Sea.

>>66260300
You could theoretically posit that they have been made, but in the wrong way. Instead of increasing buoyancy through ballast tanks, they instead focused on lightening the load i.e. airplane-grade aluminium. With the fact that increasing buoyancy through ballast makes a fuck-huge ship that is ridiculed for not fitting in the current bays.

>>66259107
Many exotic animals I imagine. From the war turtles afformentioned to bloodbeak parrots, whos beaks are favoured by the barber surgeons of the city for use as cutting tools due to their infinitely sharp edge, perfect for slicing flesh or bone.

One ship had the unfortunate experience of coming across an island populated by these birds. 300 men set out but only 20 men returned aboard a gore covered ship, still all was not lost as the 30 or so parrots they caught provided a share of 50 gold pieces for each crewman, with the recently de-limbed captain taking a 300 gold piece share for his troubles...

>>66242280
Would fucking a smiler be considered beastiality and would it be legal in Galg?

>>66261431
Yes.

I'll give you one (1) bump. But then, you die on your own.

>>66260300
The rich have metal-hulled ships while the poor have to make do with wood.

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>>66259220
It's a quote from sunless sea. A hidden storyline where you give up all the game's progess (your past), your stats and money (present) and basically resets the game to default, (future) only then can you journey into the uttermost east, never to be seen again.

I found it very fitting.

>>66260300
>>66260394
>>66260164
If you ask me, the idea of a jump from age of sail to modern/industrial revolution's tech level doesn't really fit the setting. Of course, this is just my opininon. Though I like >>66260300
this idea.

>>66265714
“Jumping tech levels” doesn’t really happen in real life the way we usually imagine it. Reverse engineering is a lot harder than Independence Day made look. Even if you know what a modern ship looks like, know how it works and have an example of one (and I doubt Galgeleth fulfills all of those), crossing a tech gap too great just isn’t feasible because you just don’t have the right knowledge base and technological infrastructure to work with. It has to be more gradual than that. You need to develop the technology to build the tools to refine the materials to build the tools to build the tools to build the components for the measuring devices you’ll need to build the components before you can get to building a modern ship. All you have is a shipyard equipped to cut wood into beams.

>>66260300
>Windjammer
>Immediately thinks of Spelljammer = spaceship, thus Windjammer = airship
One of the aspirants to the station of Princedom is Andro Balleas, a deep scholar with partial Prophetic lineage. With only one eye on reality and the other on the realms of possibilities, he set out amassing wealth to invent something never seen before. A flying ship - still tethered to the Wheels, of course - to explore the Fading Sea without fear of Sea Serpent attacks.
Many prototypes were made, but Andro has finished one such 'Windjammer', as he calls it, and for his maiden voyage he rented a medium-sized wheel, and sailed in the skies above the Fading Sea.
What he discovered was that there be Dragons, up there above the clouds. Only Andro's personal journal, and a peculiar tooth that is most definitely larger than the largest Sea Serpent ever recorded, was found on the other end when the wheel was reeled when it became overdue.

>>66266017
I am very aware of this. And as said, it is just an opinion. But it still rings false in my ears.

>>66266017
Hell, most modern deep draft vessels wouldn't be able to use the harbors of 100 years ago.

>>66266554
Why that?

>>66267658
Too shallow

>>66235775
Has anyone ever made a list of the Princes of Galgeleth?

>>66269447
I actually rather like it that most are kept mysterious. It's probably like that in-setting too.

>>66270598
Some stuff is better to leave it mythical/vague, for flavor and to be inspiring enough for anons to make they own stuff.

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I thought it'd be a fun idea to brainstorm some islands that could be found.

>A seemingly hospitable little island that has an ongoing masquerade - the inhabitants always wear different types of masks, and each of them represents a certain role they have to play in the masquerade. Only the Donkey mask is allowed to ask questions, only the moth may teach others about the masquerade, the snake mask even allows its wearer to commit atrocities without being punished and so on. But be careful, there are consequences for those acting their role out wrong. One might even be able to change their mask, given the opportunity. And on one certain, special occasion, there will be a feast in the utter dark of a gigantic cave where people are allowed to take off their masks. I admit I took much of that from sunless sea. It's still a fascinating concept
>An island, seemingly made out of trash, but sturdy enough to wander on. Who dumped all this trash he-... is... is that your grandfathers pocket watch you lost on a binge with Legalian University girls? - After some consideration, the island seems to be a gigantic, impossible collection of objects thought lost
>The lone lighthouse, nothing more than an old, crumbling tower on a small rock in the middle of nowhere. Inside, there is a flight of stairs, stopped by a ceiling without a door or hatch. Hungry travellers will find a grand table inside, bursting with exotic dishes and fresh fruit, sailors with a heavily damaged ship will find wood and tools, tired men will find beds and a calm sea during their stay. But all you are given, you must pay back in some way, for the sailors after you...or maybe for the lighthouse itself
>In the midst of an everlasting typhoon is an island, made out of the remains of the ships swallowed by it. Getting in is hard. Getting out is nigh impossible to survive. Some inhabitants will celebrate your arrival as rescue, some born there will only see demons from outside the holy wall.

>>66265278
I see your point.

>>66271832
>At first glance a series of large whirlpools, the foolhardy that sail closer discover that this vortex exerts no pull. Instead of falling into it's watery maw ships move with gravity that stays tangent to the water's surface. A number of enterprizing madmen have built cylindrical warrens, immune to all storms save the dissipation of the whirlpools themselves.
>Rumours of cities atop the backs of beasts abound and at first Tether may seem to be another of these. Its many empty chambers acting as bouyant ballast and foundations rigged into harpoon hint at a key difference. The beasts do not keep Tether afloat, they are leashed to the surface. Perhaps for the harvest of oils, perhaps to hide Tether's crimes from their kin in the deep...
>Halcyon is just as you remember it, just as everyone remembers it in fact. That's the problem. It incorporates so much of a crew's memories that they soon find themselves unclear as to who was who before they arrived. Past a certain point it is impossible to recognise change from returning to who you always were.

I've read all of this just now. Best thread on /tg/ as I'm typing this.

>>66265278
Is this what's on the other side?

>>66274570
Yes. A hundred hours of play for a few cryptic lines of text. You dont get more info on who salt actually is and why he is hiding/was exiled in the neath. I mean, he's obviously a judgement. But this storyline is maybe not as long, but just as taxing and outright self-destructive as Seeking the Name. Just remember that a reckoning will not be postponed indefinitely, anon.

>>66235775
Do people take slaves from the islands of the sea?

>>66276356
Very much so. Quite a few of the races that now live in Galgeleth are descendent from slaves.

>>66235775
Still don't get why the Prophet-People would bother with having different coloured jewels when they can't even see.

>>66276835
They see what they'd be wearing in the future.

Centuries ago, Dargon the Everlasting ended his thousand-year reign to rent the great black cord of Old Five-Thousand Miler. He left on the great city-ship Sunchaser and its Mad Armada with all his sons and daughters. He had the express purpose of finding the edge of the world and falling into Heaven, or at the very least an afterlife of his own making, forever exploring the Fading Sea and sailing into the setting sun.

The last of the faint-hearted followed the cord back, taking the excess booty with them that they had won from the constant reaving and raiding of that immortal and leaving him to his insanity and his doom.

The burden of cowards and mortals now lifted, Dargon unbound his fleet and let the cord be wound back to Galgeleth, glad to be rid of the tether to the city at long last.

>>66235775
So is the Fading Sea a localised sea? Are other seas present but not so mad? Does the Mainland have a Fading Desert in Galgeleth's opposite direction, where the black sands stretch forever onwards and dunes can be blown away to reveal cities buried beneath them?

>>66276383
What are these races? What about humans?

>>66280281
The races are pretty much whatever we come up with, as almost all of them come from the once-and-never-again-seen islands on the Fading Sea

And of course there's good old humans

>>66277452
>Does the Mainland have a Fading Desert in Galgeleth's opposite direction, where the black sands stretch forever onwards and dunes can be blown away to reveal cities buried beneath them?
Yes! And the North has a similar expanse of ice and snow, and the South has...what does the South have?

>>66281505
Fading Stars. The place where Land becomes Sky and men can mount clouds to visit the stars.

But as with the Fading Desert and Tundra, it is infinitely more inhospitable and less developed than the Fading Sea. And as such the treasures that can be reclaimed from these infinite lands are not considered well-wroth the risk to life. But the treasures that exist only in these lands- Such wonders the mind cannot comprehend and thus need be obscured to prevent one's sanity breaking through their skull.

>>66281034
Are there any that are particularly prominent, besides humans?

>>66277452
>>66281505
>>66281665
I must respectfully disagree with the existence of three other locations, on the grounds that the Fading Sea would no longer be unique and Galgeleth might therefore not exist in the first place.

>>66276845
Interesting.

>>66282918
They’re also just an ostentatious culture.

>>66282490
The Fading Desert suggestion was rather rhetorical. But the geography of the rest of the world should really be outlined. Why does the Fading Sea not encompass the other side of the Mainland? Are there boring endless oceans stretching out around it with the Fading Sea the only one that's interesting?

>>66284070
I actually don't think so. The fact that it's a self-contained setting by itself means the Fading Sea and Galgeleth can actually be transplanted fairly easily into other weird fantasy settings, or just be used on their own like Bastion, Vornheim, Voivodja, etc.

>>66284070
It's on the very edge of every map. Not all roads go to Galgeleth from the continent. For example, if Galgeleth is on the East of the continent, from any other point on the continent, if you go East, you will not find the Fading Sea - go far enough and you'll find the West coast of the Continent. But if you're on the coast of Galgeleth, you go East - or wherever the direction is the sea - it's the Fading Sea. Catch my drift? It's a topographically strange location, the Fading Sea.

>>66282490
I agree with that. The Fading Sea has to be a one of a kind phenomenon and Galgeleth a one of a kind city.

>>66284070
>>66284162
>>66282490
I think it can be explained much easier; Galgeleth is just the easternmost major city of the continent, and more importantly the only one/biggest one with the infrastructure and resources to actually build and maintain the wheels. And without wheels, no sailing into the fading sea.

But I also like this >>66284183 solution

>>66285049
Any particular reason it should be in the east?

>>66286083
i've been imagining it to be on the west coast all this time for some reason

>>66286721
Me too, that's why I'm asking.

>>66286721
So did I

>>66286083
>>66286721
>>66286903
>>66286957
Absolutely not, it was just to the east in my imagination

Weird question, but if we're already imagining how things look, what's the architectural style of Galgeleth like?

>>66287148
I'm picturing the city having been built up on top of itself over hundreds or thousands of years, until it's like a manmade mountain. The surface is dominated by what we call Victorian architecture, but the subterranean strata have all manner of earlier styles.

>>66287148
I imagine something Grecian/Mediterennian.

>>66287148
Something between a salvager's city, made out of ship hulls and plank walkways crossing out the skyline, and a roman/grecian/mediterranean city ruin rebuilt.

>>66285049
Could something like the wheels be made for the other locales?

>>66289093
MAYBE the smaller ones, but I don't think the Galgalites would be happy about it.

>>66289905
Perhaps the coast is too rugged for any large settlement making it impossible for another state to build there

>>66289093
Theoretically yes, but they aren't for cultural reasons. Only the Galgalites are crazy enough to want anything to do with the Fading Sea.

>>66287148
I'm imagining the whole city is like a strange eastern bazaar

>>66256915
>Knot madness
Of course, entire schools of thought deal with the fading sea and its implications.There is - purely theoretically of course - postulations of the exact opposite of knot madness. Sailors become sailors not necessarily out of necessity. A good share of them are people on a quest, be it for riches, a way to get out of debt or simply the pure, naked hunger of exploration.
If their desire is strong enough, they may become gloryseekers - Sailors that treat emotional and material bonds to Galgeleth as a disease. They might be the ones that'll steal pictures of your family and replace them with crude draeing of your crew. They might be the ones calling out your navigator for being a coward. They might be the ones cutting the failsafe theters and, eventually, the rope itself. For being without ties, be it ti a family, a partner or a home, is the only way to really experience freedom.

Of course, all of this is probably a romantic idea of one of the many schools of poetry on Galgeleth. After all, one can only speculate what has happened when a rope is pulled in empty.

>>66276383
What is the slave market/trade like?

>>66295188
Pretty lively, although some may have religious or moral objections to it. The Merchant Princes don't usually indulge in literal enslavement, but are happy to have debt-slaves on call.

>>66295188
The slave market of Galgaleth is one of the most busy districts in the sprawling city. Criers shout out their wares, displaying their goods with bright ribbons or raising them above the ground on pedestals. Slaves must wear a collar to mark their station, but most slavers prefer to outfit the slaves with simple leather or, for the more valuable, silk collars. After all, the slave has nowhere to escape to. Home, might not exist anymore, and there is certainly no way back. This is frequently by itself enough to keep most slaves in line. Galgalethians (is that how that should be?) refer to it as Landed Melancholy.

Most of the slaves for sale are human... ish. A fair number of islands out in the sea have humans with strange markings, horns or other aesthetic features. Such people are often higher in value than a normal human. But the truly valuable are creatures and beings that have never been seen before. A group of feathered people, men have a right wing, women a left wing, their singing otherworldly and calming. A crystalline being who emits strange light, they can shape metals like clay. A whole row of small pots, each containing a diminutive creature, the seller claims they'll grow to twice the size of a man, and if planted amongst other crops will make every harvest successful. Each of these strange beings will fetch kingly prices.

But slavery is carefully enforced in Galgaleth. Offspring of slaves are considered free, and a slave must be compensated their own value over the course of 10 years from point of sale. This allows a slave to buy their freedom if they so choose. Of course, less scrupulous slave owners will try and cheat their slaves, but such things are frowned upon.

>>66290349
What about villages?

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I imagine a mixture of greek/roman mediterranian cities, with all sorts of styles mixed in, probably buildings built by settled down former slaves >>66297625

Also, and I just realized this, but I always imagined Galgeleth as a city on a tall hill (so the old five-thousand miler could be on top), and the harbour being in the flat outskirts of said hill.

Pic not totally, but kind of related

I saw a mashup of different architectural styles depending on the taste of the inhabitants of each of the thirteen districts and the Merchant Princes. Galgeleth is a melting pot of cultures and faiths ranging from ancient to two days old, and its architecture reflects this.

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>>66299025
Better pic

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>>66289905
>>66298442
There are no villages along the Shore. For millenia men have know that to stray too close to the Fading Sea was folly. Doing so risks your immortal soul's chance at Paradise should you die too close to the water and thus beyond the edge of creation, and risks your life when the sea storms come. For the floatsam and jetsam left on the shore is often alive and dangerous, and washed up sea monsters are a recurring phenomenon. Treasures wash up far more rarely, most sinking rather than floating.
The land is poor, too, which doesn't help.
Now a few days inland scattered villages start, and a few weeks in you start reaching the major mainlander nations.

As for why there are no other Cities upon the Shore with their own Wheels?
Not only are they damn difficult to build (most fail, especially if they're unwilling to use blood sacrifice to bend monsters to their will and don't have any sort of Fading Sea treasure to help) but most people are unwilling to try for religious reasons. There were a few shitty imitators in the past once the great wealth of the Merchant-Princes became apparent, but they were either destroyed during the war or during apocalyptic storms carrying with them _things_ from the Sea's depths.

>>66255498
But an underwater rope wouldn't work either, when would it? Two tethered ships crossing paths or even fighting would cause the ropes to become tangled. I guess seamonsters tackling the rope is unlikely enough. But I am really struggling to come up with how this might work.

>>66297625
There is no shortage of slaves even when expeditions are unsuccessful: while Slaves may free themselves, and give birth to free offspring, debtors always provide a steady backup. For any venture in Galgaleth that's worth doing will make you either a rich man, or push you into debt so deep that selling yourself into slavery is the only way out.

>>66300476
Ropes can only tangle in the visible range of the beacons within fifty miles of Galgaleth's shore. After that, the dubious unreality of the Fading Sea prevents it

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>>66301081
YES! I really like that.

>>66301482
It's been established in the previous thread

I seem to be in a minority here, but I never really liked the whole underwater exploration direction this got taken in. I’d rather this stick to Odysseus/Sinbad-esque island hopping adventures.

>>66303227
I dont think you're in the minority here. And I dont really see much of the "descent" itt

>>66304962
Why not?

>>66304976
Because people didn’t post much about it?

>>66303227
What is under the sea?

>>66303227
I like underwater exploration so long as it's more of a 'pearl diving' angle

We already discussed diving runs a little in the last thread.

>>66311577
Summary?

>>66311614
The posts are:
>>66156743
>>66204361
Not much to work with, but it's a start.

>>66235775
The war between Galgaleth and the mainland was motivated by more than just a simple power balance and greed. Many of the institutions of the mainland are becoming increasingly nervous at the number and nature of artifacts from the sea that make their way inland, through regular trade or smuggling.
From dusty universities to gilded churches, hushed whispers about "consequences" and an "invitation" have been heard more and more. Dark rooms, filled with old bearded scholars, blind monks, silk laden clerics and other keepers of old knowledge pour over scraps of parchment with hints of things to come. Every new pearl that grants wishes or necklace that cures diseases presented to these men gives them more haste in their work, more urgent messages sent to their rulers.
It isn't clear what they are afraid of. Perhaps no two of them are afraid of the same thing. But what is clear, they all believe that keeping things from the Fading Sea will have dire consequences.

Or perhaps these are just old men's concerns about a changing world. Or doomsayers who see apocalypse on every cloud. Nevertheless, even Galgaleth keeps a strong navy facing the Fading Sea, and a small and secretive service, answering directly to the Merchant Princes, twice month makes as precise a measurement as they can to see where the Fading Sea truly begins and reality ends.

>>66235775
>A passage from the fourteenth edition of Notable Oddities of Galgeleth As Recorded by Nero Corman

Among the sea-lost of Galgeleth {See account: Fayza Haykal}, the case of Pericles Mormolykos, captain of the Silver Moon, is outstanding in its peculiarity.
After an otherwise unexciting expedition, he returned a foot taller and with more muscle, as if he had undergone rigorous training in his seclusion. However, he claimed to have met and collaborated with himself, shortly before the other's ship was attacked and sunk by a Sea Serpent, and his memories of Galgeleth were incorrect -- in particular, his account ascribes different identities to the holders of many important and unimportant offices, including the positions of Fourth Merchant Prince and Overseer of the Grand Wheel (known casually as the Five-Thousand Miler).

After an initial stir, the case of Pericles was forgotten as it was found that not much had changed.

>>66235775
Fun fact: “Galgeleth” is Hebrew for “pulley wheel”, but because Hebrew is written without vowels, the way it would be can also be pronounced “Gulgaltha”, “Place of Skulls”.

So what's the deal with sea serpents? They're vital for the creation of the ropes, but what do they look like, what do we know about them, what superstitions surrounding them are there? How do hunters and those brave fools who need desperately to settle a debt go about finding and killing them, exactly?

>>66315792
With great firepower and desperate tenacity.

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>>66314996

>>66314996
Somewhere, a certain angel is chortling at his shitty pun.
>>66315792
Sea Serpents are fuckhuge snakes that live in the Fading Sea, and attack ships all the time. Their intestines, when treated with special chemicals and possibly magic, are damn near unbreakable and are thus used to make ropes for the wheels.

There is conjecture that they can somehow leave the Fading Sea under their own power and are in fact foreign to it, since they seem to be everywhere for no apparent reason.

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anyone still adding stuff to the wiki?

>>66318337
Sea Serpents are wildly varied, more of a category rather than a specific animal. There are only three characteristics shared between them: that they all have long, snakelike bodies; are incredibly dangerous; and that a piece of their anatomy can unvariably be rendered into a length of Tether-rope. So that snake dragon thing can be a Sea Serpent, but so is that gigantic slimy hagfish with paralyzing venom.

Some believe that the black, unbreakable cord pulled by the mighty Five Thousand Miler was woven from the sinews of Great Leviathan herself by the mysterious Second Prince, long before Galgeleth wore its current form.

>>66318721
Wiki?

>>66318721
I would, but I don't feel confident enough in my english.

>>66314996
>citys name is "Pulley wheel" in hebrew
>City is reigned by merchant-princes
Top kek, is Galgeleth the reason god doesnt talk to anyone anymore?

>>66323656
Given the implications that the Second Prince was a fallen angel, possibly.

>>66318862
Are there any famous ones?

>>66318228
Be nice!

>>66301048
Are there often slave concubines?

>>66323973
What are angels like?

>>66325380
Sure, let me look into the Sea-Serpent Almanac by scribe Hadal Ras-Makari.
>In the year of the Donkey of the Mihiric Age, on the month of Dzul-Kaidah: it is recorded that a Sea-Serpent of unusual shape was encountered by a captain Stern Gruensbeck. It had a segmented, wormlike body, with oarlike bristles on its bottom side, and a head that is truncated, like a bucket. When captain Stern ordered harpoons to be fired, tendrils uncoiled from the Sea-Serpent and met the harpoons mid-air. The tendrils snaked up the harpoon-lines and strangled quite a few harpooners, but the captain was quick to send swordsmen to cut the tendrils and harpoon-ropes before more damage can be done. The Sea-Serpent then attempted to give chase, but the captain was already in retreat - and it was never seen again. The tendrils still writhe for several days afterwards, but turns out to be a good Tether-material, able to be grafted on previous lines with ease.
>In the year of the Crow of the Jadhamic Age, on the month of Opalate: it is recorded that a multi-headed Sea-Serpent was encountered by the 32nd Alnilam Convoy. Each of its heads looked like the front end of a 'wet lion', and its body looked like an elongated seal, with slick yellowish fur and multiple flippers along its sides. When it roared it incites a panic so deep that two ships immediately burst into panic-induced riots, but the convoy-master Abdimelech managed to relay the order to plug their ears to all remaining crew of the flotilla. The Sea-Serpent then tries to roar a third time, upon which an explosive harpoon was launched and hit the serpent right on the neck, and incapacitated it. Shortly after, the Sea-Serpent was slain, and its carcass towed back to Galgeleth. An artifact was found lodged in its throat, and its spine made good Tether-material.

>>66325380
In the Armageddon, many angels were stranded on Earth by the foul spellcraft of the Fallen Host, and were unable to return to the Throne of Adon under their own power. Although they are forced to live among men, most follow only the will of Adon, and continue to organize themselves by the angelic reckoning of military structure.

Angels are organized in three Choirs as follows:

>Third Choir
The footsoldiers and lower officers of Adon.
Angels (equivalent to Infantrymen), Archangels (equivalent to Sergeants) and Principalities (equivalent to Lieutenants) are placed under this Choir, and all worshippers are granted the right to seek aid directly from its ranks.
>Second Choir
The specialists and higher officers of Adon.
Powers (Champions who accompany detachments of the Third Choir), Virtues (Magi who channel the divine magic of Adon) and Dominions (equivalent to Colonels and Generals) occupy the positions of this Choir; only the most faithful are permitted to request aid directly from them, although requests which could not be fulfilled by the First Choir are sent here.
>Third Choir
The highest Choir, representing the will of Adon himself.
Thrones (Heralds of Adon), Ophanim (weapons of widespread devastation), Cherubim (equivalent to Spymasters) and Seraphim (equivalent to Generals) constitute this Choir. They obey only the authority of Adon himself, although some Saints have been known to summon them.

>>66331049
Sorry, meant to quote >>66330669

>Angels and Archangels
The footsoldiers of Adon appear to be men of unbearable beauty, bestowed with flawless white wings which allow them to fly; they are as strong and fast as ten men; they wield swords and maces alongside shields, and wear simple armour, all fashioned from enchanted bronze. Under their armour, which covers most of the body, they wear white robes of the finest silk.
>Principalities
Principalities may be distinguished from Archangels by their sceptres which inspire their allies to fight, and their crowns which expand the cunning and knowledge of their wearers.
>Powers
Unlike normal Angels, Powers appear perpetually aflame, burning with golden fire which burns foes but is harmless to friends; each Power carries a unique enchanted weapon of masterful craftsmanship and is an unparalleled master in its use. Their silver armour turns aside blades, pushing them away from gaps, and repels blunt weapons, defending them well; moreover, minor spells are dispelled by the divine power of Adon, allowing them to ignore trifling magic such as fireballs and lightning.
>Virtues
They are dressed in robes underneath their silver armour, and wield staves and spellswords; theirs is the power to cast magic of great power, such that a single Virtue may very well defeat an army of mortals unless opposed by another magus. They are rare even among stranded angels, and the chances of a mortal meeting one are very small.
>Dominions
They are clothed in elaborate robes and decorated golden armour, and stand taller than most men; they have monstrous features, such as the head of a lion or the legs of a goat. They are skilled at command, logistics, tactics, strategy and other aspects of generalship, and can even cast spells and enact rituals to empower their followers.
>Thrones
They appear as enormous flaming three-headed men, each face wrapped in cloth which barely covers their light to prevent mortals from seeing them.

(cont.)

>>66332307
Thrones constantly scream hymns and praises to Adon, and the sight of one strikes terror in the hearts of its foes even as its allies are inspired to fight to the death for their god's glory.
>Cherubim
They appear most often as small children, although it is merely a matter of their whim.
Cherubim are masters of illusion, shapeshifting and mind-bending magic, and an unprotected mind is nothing before them; if pressed, however, they are practiced with the daggers and hidden weapons they carry with them.
>Ophanim
No Ophanim are known to exist today, and the following description is compiled from the accounts of various angels and from legend:

Ophanim are said to appear as great wheels of fire and black steel half the size of a Throne, covered by eyes of different sizes.
Supposedly, these eyes are capable of casting spells of great scale and power, such as searing waves of light and fire, petrification, gates, and hurricanes: they were often summoned for the purpose of eradicating whole armies and razing cities, although the only Virtue who could be spoken with claimed that none would respond at that time.

>>66235775
Can you play as a butterfly-person?

>>66332532
Yes but you’ll die shortly.

>>66332532
Horned-People are a much more practical player race.

>>66333983
But what if you find that one elixir, that golden apple to live a full life? Would you do it...?

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>>66332532
Since this is more an idea of a setting the reader can interpret and change how they like (as with every setting I suppose), you can of course.

Still makes me wonder, what system would you guys use? Hexcrawl something? DnD? Some weird Traveller bastardization?

archived
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/66235775/

>>66337562
Well whatever is used it needs some rudimentary sailing rules at a minimum. I'm sure there is a dedicated system for pirates/high seas adventure somewhere, but I don't know any off the top of my head.

>>66337562
Was looking, as you said, for a traveller mod (and there are a few very short rudimentary ones) but none of them really captured what I wanted. Obviously I don't really want to use and modify DnD for this. I'm probably asking for too much (good and flexible exploration rules, medium heavyness, a bit of naval battles and resource management) and need to modify some system. But I dread that because it always makes me afraid that the players somehow might break the game because I forgot an important rule - and such things lead to a game really losing atmosphere IMO

>>66328547
That’s probably a safe bet.

>>66338734
Thanks

>>66260761
What about giant spiders?

>>66342510
Spider silk?

>>66337562
Amalgam.

Hexcrawl for the battles.
Maps + Random Rolls for the exploration.

You won't find one system to do it all. So you'll need to take the parts that work and join them with glue.

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>>66287148
I imagine something like the old North European port cities. Narrow streets, high houses with overhanging upper floors, some temples look like gothic churches. Many buildings were built from the remains of old ships and drift-wood. The summer is rather cold, winter is warm (the port does not freeze), but overcast and rainy.

>>66347429
Are they glowing?

>>66344108
They already have butterfly-person silk to work with

>>66350548
Butterfly people?

>>66353167
Indeed. Butterfly people exist in this setting

>>66353167
Where did you think caterpillar-people came from?

>>66355120
Ha ha

>>66353597
What are they like?

>>66353597
Can they fly?

>>66359533
>>66361067
https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Fading_Sea#Butterfly_People
Alternatively check the first thread (in the OP)

>>66362427
Thanks.

>>66337562
Hexcrawl?

>>66365778
What's that?

bumping up

>>66369186
Thanks!

>>66350548
Can butterfly people silk be used as an alternative to serpent sinew?

Also what would be the reaction to finding the same island twice?

>>66371498
>Can butterfly people silk be used as an alternative to serpent sinew?
I do think that'd first of all drive down the price of ropes, thus making them more readily available thus making trips into the fading sea more a personal risk than monetary AND personal. I think these journeys should be special, even for Galgeleth, and not mere routine.

>Also what would be the reaction to finding the same island twice?
You tell us, anon. That's what this thread is for

Also, OP, are you still with us?

>>66371498
>butterfly people silk
You're thinking of moths, butterflies don't make silky cocoons.

>same island twice
There's been legends and rumors of that, but nothing real concrete. Perhaps the closest is that one captain who met himself on the voyage, got his original self eaten by a Sea Serpent, and the other him followed his Tether instead. Nothing but a few unnoticeable differences.

bumping

>>66371566
Like what?

>>66371566
Can we hear more about that captain?

>>66371566
>butterflies don't make silky cocoons
But butterfly-people do

>>66371566
>butterflies don't make silky cocoons
Shit. Guess we have to either say magical caterpillar-people actually develop silk-analogue chrysalises,

Might have some shit were people encourage or force-feed Caterpillar-people certain substances so they evolve into particular Butterfly-people and/or shuck their cocoons with specific properties.

>>66381263
What substances?

>>66235775
ERP tips for this setting?

>>66384204
Various shit. Initially for shits and giggles. For profit when it was found that their cocoons would be impacted by what the caterpillar-person consumed and imbibed over their lifetime. For other things when a particular caterpillar was fed the distilled remains of a Prophetic-People and emerged as a Caterpillar-People capable of seeing the future. To a lesser degree of course, what with it never having lost its eyes.

>>66381263
It is said if you manage to make a caterpillar-man nocturnal, and add mulberry into its diet, it will eventually turn into a moth-kin. Nocturnal, produces much silk, and writes poetry about the moon. Some even say they have a longer lifespan than butterfly-people, but when they're last seen about a hundred years ago everyone thinks they're a myth.

>>66378604
>>66314592

>>66386579
Horned-women are hot.

>>66384204
Dreamshit

>>66390448
Woah, careful with what you say! 'Dreamshit' has been banned following the disappearance of a merchant in dubious circumstances. Rumor has it that the drug is the mixture of butterfly-people scales, horned men dung and prophetic-people ichor. But it seems after the merchant disappeared, notes were found that led the Merchant Princes to ban the drug in all of Galgeleth. Don't say that unless you want the Sewed-Eyes agents to catch you! Who knows what they did in the service of the Merchant Princes?

>>66390199
And possess such an ego that they will literally punch you in the head if you even hint about them being 'submissive' to you.

>>66391403
Further complicated by the fact that "Dreamshit" was also what that coruscating gunk was called. Y'know, the stuff brought back from a trip into the Sea that made your dreams turn into the weird shit. I'm pretty sure all of it's gone. But some fuck always comes out saying he "procured" the last remnants of the original Dreamshit. It's always a ball of the most fierce drugs though. No Dreamshit at all.

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Horned-People Minigame

You are young horned-people heroes. As it is customary, you must prove your greatness by performing feats worthy of legend before you are accepted by your peers.

All Horned-People are naturally Mighty, Wise, Glorious, and Exalted (simultaneously) but being youngsters you aren't all equally. Distribute 13 points among those attributes.

Mighty: physical power, endurance and combat skills.
Wise: knowledge, perception, intelligence, debate skills.
Glorious: charisma, emotional persuasion, willpower and seduction skills.
Exalted: inherent magical power.

For each point of Mighty above 1, you have a weapon (spear, sword, axe, bow, sling, etc.) or a shield. For 2 points you can have a chariot.
For each point of Wise above 1 you have an item of cultural significance (book, scroll, harp, pipe, art object, perfumes, medicines, cosmetics, etc.). For 3 points you are versed in a ritual (see below).
For each point of Glorious above 1 you have a servant. For 2 points you have your own (small) villa outside Galgeleth. For 3 points you have your own ship.
For each point of Exalted above 1, you can talk to and command a type of animal. For 3 points, you can command fire or the winds.

There's no attribute for being sneaky because Horned-People aren't.

For each feat of legend you accomplish, you can increase one of your attributes by 1.

Also, give yourself a name and describe your:
Horns (pick equal to Glorious) - magnificent, intimidating, graceful, curved, wide, pristine, gilded, bejeweled, blooded, battle-tested
Gaze (pick equal to Wise) - piercing, steely, shining, bright, aloof, judgemental, bloody, inquisitive
Body (pick equal to Mighty) - chiseled, towering, tattooed, gold-laden, painted, voluptuous, hairy, armored, silk-robed, pierced

(cont.)

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>>66392260

To do things, roll a d6 below attribute. +1 to attribute if circumstances are favorable, additional +1 if one of your descriptors or items fits. -1 if circumstances are unfavorable. You never get a -1 due to descriptors because everything that Horned-People are is by definition good. If you fail on a 6 you're put in a terrible situation.
To contest with another, each rolls a d6 and adds their relevant attribute. Higher total wins. If higher total is twice lower total, victory is absolute and the loser is thoroughly beaten and humiliated. If less than that, loser still gets to impose some kind of little complication, setback or revenge on the winner. On a tie, the contest continues.

While some creatures possess attributes similar to Horned-People, puny humans do not. They have Sturdy, Clever and Charming, which are like Mighty, Wise and Glorious but worse.

Battle is a contested roll. Victor inflicts full damage, on a partial victory loser may choose to either reduce it by 1 or inflict 1 on the victor.
Damage:
Horns, daggers: 1
Spears, clubs and swords: 2
Massive axes: 3
+1 if you're on top of a chariot.
A shield reduces damage by 1.

Puny humans reduce all damage by 1 against Horned-People and other worthy foes. If they attack with fists or a dagger, it still causes 1 damage to worthy foes but it heals after a breather.

Using a ranged weapon is a simple Mighty roll, -1 if enemy is far away, -1 if they have cover, -1 if they're fast or small or have a shield. Always causes 1 damage.

Damage is inflicted on Mighty. When combat is over, roll against current Mighty. If it's above 1, on a success you keep going, on a failure you're down until healed. If 1 or below, on a success you're down until healed, on a failure you've suffered mortal wounds.
Heal 1 Mighty per week of activity or 3 days of rest, roll against Wise if you have the right tools to heal someone for 1 Mighty once per incident.

(cont.)

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>>66392287


Mass combat is pretty much the same, but you contest with Wise, damage is based on the size of your army and is inflicted on Glorious. If by end Glorious is above 1, roll against: on a failure your army disperses, on a success they stick together for now. If below 1, on a failure you've yourself been wounded, on a success your army disperses. Glorious is regained by 1 per month or 1 per week of excessive and extravagant consumption

Magic: inherent to all Horned-People is the ability to talk to and command animals derieved from their status as the Divinely Chosen Crown of Creation. You can do this to a number of animals equal to Exalted. To use one, spend 1 Exalted and roll with the new number: on a success it works, on a regular failure it somewhat works, on a failure on a 6 it's a complete flop.
Very powerful Horned-People can command fire or the winds.
Exalted is regained by 1 every sunrise.

Rituals: long, bloody, expensive, can accomplish a lot of stuff. See the future, heal the sick, bring plague, turn lead into gold, rain molten metal on your enemies, summon demons.

>>66391786
>And possess such an ego that they will literally punch you in the head if you even hint about them being 'submissive' to you.
I'm sure they're cute while being milked

>>66393472
You don't milk horned-women, your pathetic self is graciously honored by partaking of her milk.

>>66393832
Actually, IIRC, Horned-People have that thing where they use humans instead of domestic animals. If anything, they milk YOU.

>>66393846
That’s even better!

Lemme at it

Prophetic-People Minigame

You are young Prophetic-People out to make a name for yourselves. In particular, you're after the ultimate Prophetic-People status symbol: more eye jewels.

Distribute 10 points (Prophetic-People aren't as naturally awesome as Horned-People, but they've got their own tricks) among Subtle, Seductive, Sagacious, and Sighted.

Subtle: sneaking, hiding, manipulating people, having people killed, doing business.
Seductive: playing with people's emotions, being fiery, accomplishing some feats of physical prowess, wink wink (?)
Sagacious: knowledge, intelligence, respect, debate, strategy.
Sighted: how thoroughly Prophetic you are.

(there's no attribute truly equivalent to Mighty - Prophetic-People are not physically impressive and in a physical battle with something like a Horned-Person they'll get turned into a fine red mist)

For each point of Subtle above 1, you have a contact in Galgeleth willing to work with you. For 2, you have some kind of business investment that's making you big money.
For each point of Seductive above 1, you have an item of social significance (jewlery, cosmetics, perfumes, fancy clothes, a sword, a ornate dagger, etc.). For each 2, you have someone useful in the city around your fingers.
For each point of Sagacious above 1, you have a useful magical or advanced knicknack (lockpicker, exotic poison, bell that rings when you're being watched, powerful medicines, pet monkey, etc.) or a magical ritual (Prophetic-People are big on magical rituals).
For each 2 points of Sighted above 1, you have a set of eye jewels (if you can't afford even a single one, you're a pathetic blackeye and other Prophetic people will make fun of you).

>>66395325

Your businesses generate loads of money. So long as you have even one you can afford a house and some servant and minor purchases are nothing. Each one creates a floating "investment" point you can have to do bigger stuff with, like a hire a group of merceneries or a ship, throw a major banquet, etc. So long as your investments are safe you can easily shift those around, but if you fail on a Subtle roll there are complications and if you fail on a Sagacious roll it takes a month or so.

For each set of eye jewels you get your hands on you can increase Subtle, Seductive or Sagacious by one, or you can bank 2 to increase Sighted.

To do things, roll a d6 below attribute. +1 to attribute if circumstances are favorable, additional +1 if one of your items fits. -1 if circumstances are unfavorable. You never get a -1 due to descriptors because everything that Horned-People are is by definition good. If you fail on a 6 you're put in a terrible situation. To contest with another, each rolls a d6 and adds their relevant attribute. Higher total wins. If higher total is twice lower total, victory is absolute and the loser is thoroughly beaten and humiliated. If less than that, loser still gets to impose some kind of little complication, setback or revenge on the winner. On a tie, the contest continues.

To notice visual details, hidden object or hidden people, roll ABOVE Sighted. Being blind isn't all fun and games.

If you want to have someone killed and they're the kind of pathetic being who can't see the future, you just roll against Subtle. On a success they die within a week, or within the day if you divest money from one of your investments. On a failure it will take a month (week if you invest) or doing someone a favor. On a failure on a 6, amazingly, they survive and are probably angry.

>>66395344
To actually have a duel with another Prophetic-Person, swords and daggers and all, contest with Seductive. On a complete victory the loser is dead (of COURSE the blades are poisoned), on a partial victory you either both suffer mortal wounds or they make an escape at a cost (weakened, exposed or unbalanced). On a tie, the duel continues, but you both lose 1 Seductive to exhaustion, which can only be regained after a night of comfortable rest with hot food, a hot bath, and hot wine.

In other kinds of physical conflict you normally roll against Seductive, on a success you make it and are merely exhausted (as above), on a failure you're wounded and out of the action for a month (or a week if a healer rolls against Sagacious), on a failure with a 6 you're flat out dead.

Mass combat is done with Sagacity, damage is inflicted on Subtle. Damage by size of force. Subtle thus lost is restored by 1 per month of rebuilding your power or week or rebuilding your power with an investment of resources.

To use Prophecy, spend 1 Sighted to declare that you've made arrangements before that account for some change in the scene (you have the right item, you have an accomplice nearby, you've barred all the exists, you've prepared an escape, etc.). Spend 3 Sighted to declare the entire last scene was just a possible future and roll back to the end of the last one.

Sighted is regained by 1 each moonrise.

Got nothing to add to this discussion but bumping because it’s interesting.

>>66393846
TMI

>>66397674
Following in your footsteps.

Do the sailors who enter the Sea have any superstitions?

>>66401261
I'd also like to know this.

>>66403272
Keeping it alive!

>>66392260
>>66392287
>>66392297
>>66395325
>>66395344
>>66395365
I like the idea of each profile hyping its own race up and putting down every other race,never if it only happened with the Horned People.
>>66401261
One superstition is throwing ropelike things into the sea so the tether doesn't get envious and let go.

>>66405244
How did THAT get started?

>>66406921
Sea serpents fucking hate ropes.

>>66401261
Only found this one
>>66256915

But there surely were more in these two threads

>>66395344
Oh, I lost a line when I copied this from the pastebin.

>If you want to have a serious threat (i.e. another Prophetic-Person) killed, contest with Subtle. If you succeed by more than twice, they plain die. If you succeed by less than that, they either survive at a cost (weakened, seductive reduced to 1; exposed, subtle reduced to 1; unbalanced, sagacious reduced to 1) or they set your own death in motion with a counter roll. On a failure, they're fine and your involvement is clear. Normally having another Prophetic-Person killed like this takes a month. You can lower this to a week, but roll at -1. You can lower this to a day and roll with -2.

>>66401261
>>66401261
Many and varied. Some older ships keep a chaplain versed only in the crews superstitions in order to enforce them more effectively.
Common superstitions include
>you should not be looking landward the moment it disappears over the horizon, doing so curses the whole voyage to return home early and without pay
>the Tether is a jealous creature. While a ship can't survive without rope and rigging, no other rope should be better maintained than the Tether. Cutting up and throwing pieces of rope overboard is also effective
>Games of chance are important. The Fading Sea contains all possibilities, even the most unlikely ones. The more "dice throws" on board the more the Sea will throw up unlikely results. And although losing isn't fun, it's often hoped that you can use up your bad luck in a game of chance instead of having the Sea "roll" a sea monster attack. It is traditional for the Captain to make a bet with his officers on a simple dice cup at the start of a voyage, but only reveal the results upon returning home
>Keeping tokens of home, especially dirt or rocks, can help one's spirit return there should they die on the Sea.
>Seeing a Sea Serpent is never a good sign, but if it turns away from your ship, it's worse. It means you're already dead and you just don't know it yet. Either that or something bigger has you in its sights.
>You should never stay more than 3 days on any land in the Fading Sea. Doing so makes you detach from reality. If you do end up doing so you must sleep beside the Tether for 7 nights, and then offer it a sacrifice of some kind, usually part of whatever plunder you gained while on land.

>>66392260
>>66392287
>>66392297
>>66395325
>>66395344
>>66395365
Now do one for butterfly people!

>>66410747
Second

>>66410747
Bumping

Not to poop on you people's parade but when a thread has more bump replies than actual replies, it's probably better to let it die.

>>66414771
Parade? Where?

>>66239169
as a sailor, sea states and weather conditions either do not matter to a ship(up to a certain point), or will rip everything that's not stowed for sea around and smash up the insides.
I've never sailed on a wooden ship so I can't say the effects that freezing temps would have on them.

>>66414771
As a contributor, I agree. Let it be archived.
>>66410747
Not to be rude, bur it doesn't work that way.

>>66416531
Does anyone know what would happen?

>>66421960
Anyone?

>>66423478
Depends on the hull quality. Get the wood too cold below freezing, and the water that is still inside the air will freeze, which can push wood fibers apart. Those fibers get pushed too much, and cracks form. The boards might also shrink which could cuase them to leak water.

What about creating more tables for random islands to find on the sea? The recent "Ghosts of Saltmarsh" for D&D had a few nice ones, but obviously less Weird Fantasy oriented than this setting seems to be aimed at being.

The youngest of the giants of Galgeleth is Panafortis, the Basalt Cherub. Still old enough that most Galgalites have no idea where it came from (a visiting giantess, in all likelihood), it is merely a few centuries in age and a practical baby. Nevertheless, a baby the size of a building that’s been known to set destruction to neighborhoods when throwing tantrums (when it isn’t throwing poop). The Fifth Prince tried to have it grounded twenty years ago but an ominous rumbling from under the harbor suggested the elder giants didn’t like the idea, so now he’s simply placated with food and toys and gently suggested to turn the occasional Wheel as a “fun game”, and everyone hopes for the best.

>>66423558
How does the quality affect things?

>>66427104
What do you mean?

>>66426222
But why is he called the Basalt Cherub? Cherub I get, if he’s a giant baby (although given this setting has biblical angels, wouldn’t their image of a cherub be a winged lion?), but why Basalt? Is he black?

>>66427104
Theres different types of wood for one thing some stronger tight grained and some more prone to retaining humidity due to a looser grain although you'd only see those in cheaper smaller boats. Then there's the craftsmanship, a master shipwright will make a better boat than a novice. I'm not sure but I bet the thickness of the boards used would make a difference as well as the method it was made, is it thin wood over a frame with some buoyant material in the core with thin inner panelled walls or a solid inch thick slabs of boards with tar to waterproof or is there reinforcing of multiple layers of boards? Older ships probably handle the cold worse than a new ship too.

>>66434733
>Older ships probably handle the cold worse than a new ship too
That could be the other way around....

>>66434779
What do you mean?

>>66432363
Have you never played Drakengard?

>>66235775
Is that an Elric reference?

>>66441648
Shit, I haven't noticed that.

Tell me more about ice-goblins and mistlings

>>66445090
Ice-Goblins are Ice-Goblins.
Another race of invading marauders that struck at Galgeleth and were struck down. Now condemned to live and breed in the CIty of Wheels. Absolutely amazing how many such varieties of an invading force becoming wrecked upon Galgeleth exist.

But Mistlings? Mistlings. People don't like to talk about the mistlings.

>>66446223
One day they all just sorta evaporated

>>66446481
Ever since then, when the thick, cold mists of the Fading Sea roll in, and even the coastal waters become dangerous ground to all not tethered to a Buoy or safely at shore, it is said you if you look hard enough, you can see the Mistlings dance and frolick in the turbid air, beckoning all who dare to join them and be forever gone

>>66449116
Rumor has it they got what they did for trying to fuck with the Seventh Prince.

>>66449228
How did they do that?

>>66451227
I'm assuming some kind of magic.