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[MrVoid]

During the two months I've spent without access to a laptop/cellphone/internet capable device I managed to drown my boredom by creating Ardat. I intend to either write a book or run a pretty decent rp once I get my laptop back. In any case, this is some my progress thus far.

Planet: Ardat
Mass: 1.05 earths.
Year length: 410 days
Notable celestial bodies: Nardel (sun), the Breach (Orbiting Magical Anomaly)
Sentient life: Ardatians (1.4 billion)
Population growth rate 1.02 per year

Magic:

• Breach Magic: The massive rip in the sky of Ardat has come to be known as The Breach. Periodically a rain of mystical stones rain down from the breach. These stones dissolve on contact with complex biological material, infusing the contacted entity with the stone's magical energy. The effects of this are usually an increase in some form of skill or magical ability. However, it comes with the additional effect of violent and painful physical mutations. The process is much slower when in contact with plants, and it tends to affect entire areas instead of that specific piece of grass or one tree, effectively creating a very lucrative apothecary business around the globe.  With animals, the transformations are much quicker, sometimes killing or permanently maiming the creature it affects.  Those who recover from their first breach stone are significantly stronger than most any normal creature.  Non-sentients tend to transform in a very limited number of ways, while the sentient Ardatians are transformed in thousands of ways. After attuning to three to four different kinds of breach stones, one can only assimilate stones of that type. The stones they attatch to can transform them in any number of ways, gems, claws, additional limbs and animalistic features are just some of the ways that Ardatians have changed.
• Ritual Magic: Considered to be a bargain with the god of magic (tentative name Zeim). Rituals always come with a cost whether if be personal, moral, social, etc... Larger feats are more easily performed with ritual magic than with breach magic, such as creating a floating island in the sky or a permanent portal to anywhere.  Somewhat surprisingly the culture supports the use of ritual magic over breach magic (I'll cover why if this is interesting enough), as a means to gain physical or magical strength. Ritual magic however can only amplify the effects of a breach stone, not create the strength on its own. Interestingly, ritual augmentation does not advance a breach mutation.
• Wild Magic: Certain animals absorb a great deal of breach magic throughout their lives. Eventually these creatures are slain and when this occurs the magic erupts out, changing things randomly sometimes good, sometimes bad one should always take care when slaying these beasts.

That'll be enough for tonight, I'll try to post more tomorrow. Typing on phones is hard.

[T-Mick]

Though you haven't got much feedback, I'm listening and waiting. 

Why is the planet bigger than Earth? Any particular reason, or just for the sake of it?

Is Wild Magic essentially just a magic mutating bomb, or can it be manipulated by "sentient Ardatians?"

Who are the Ardatians, by the way? One species, as suggested by the Sentient Life number, or a few different species running around?

Where did the breach come from? You say it is in orbit around the planet. That's cool, and I'm curious.

[LeoLeonardoIII]

Do you consider it an adventuring goal to go into desolate areas and collect fallen Breach Stones? Because I know as a player I'm gonna want to do that, absorb a bunch of my element, and have the other party members absorb the stones of their elements. With that in mind, and with adequate coverage of skills and deficiencies of the group, it would be best if each had their own element.

It would have to be adventure in desolate areas otherwise the stones would have already touched something biological. Like a desert, tundra, glacier, or high stony plain.

Are some stones captured in orbit? If so, how about a magician flying up and grabbing them?

[MrVoid]

Sorry i disappeared from this, real life got interesting for a couple of days.

Why is the planet bigger than Earth? Any particular reason, or just for the sake of it?

If all planets had the exact same orbit and size of earth, it would be boring. Thats my only reason.

Is Wild Magic essentially just a magic mutating bomb, or can it be manipulated by "sentient Ardatians?"

. The magic bomb is a perfect analogy. However, the changes are not always mutagenic. Its called wild magic for two reasons, the first is because it cant be controlled and secondly because it can do even more than ritual magic can, some prices, short of murdering ones entire extended family, their friends, and their friend's friends, are just too steep.

Who are the Ardatians, by the way? One species, as suggested by the Sentient Life number, or a few different species running around?

Covered below.

Where did the breach come from? You say it is in orbit around the planet. That's cool, and I'm curious.

Currently, it is suspected to have been the result of an ancient ritual, though no record of the ritual has surfaced and there are other theories.

Do you consider it an adventuring goal to go into desolate areas and collect fallen Breach Stones? Because I know as a player I'm gonna want to do that, absorb a bunch of my element, and have the other party members absorb the stones of their elements. With that in mind, and with adequate coverage of skills and deficiencies of the group, it would be best if each had their own element.

Theoretically yes, but i'll cover why that may be a bad idea.

Are some stones captured in orbit? If so, how about a magician flying up and grabbing them?

I had actually suspected that someone would try this, thats why I've made the Roefacri, my dragons. Massive winged serpents that fly around underneath the breach sometimes catching the stones that strike their fancy. When they come down to feed, rarely since most of them have lost that need, roughly 10 square miles of the planet is left devoid of animal life.  Only one of their elders, suspected to be thousands of years old, has ever been slain. The Wild magic from that event created a habitable floating island roughly two kilometers in the air, with its own atmosphere.

The title Ardatian goes to the planets functional humanity equivalent. Normally, an Ardatian looks almost exactly like a human, different skin tones and they bleed purple at most, but thats not really important. Due to the breach's mutagenic effects, an Ardatian with even one contact with a breach stone can look like virtually anything, though no taller than 3 meters. A mass of mobile crystal, humanoid arachnids, masses of physical shadow, cthulu, etc...

Culturally, Ardatians are diverse and spread out across the planet. Many governments are run by oligarchies and councils, democracies are rare and kingdoms even rarer. Due to the breach's influence, gender roles have completely dissipated, in fact, the ones that are still able to breed after a transformation tend to hold a place of honor. A child's first breach stone is generally given between their 10th and 16th birthdays and pcs will be attuned to 3 or 4 types of stones by the time that the story starts. Population growth is low due to the breach's common limitation to breeding. Those that can breed often have upwards of 6 children.

The effects of Breach affiliation on the Ardatian psyche have been well documented over the years. While a few of the same stone doesn't tend to have any visible effects, a great many Ardatians have expressed increased agression and continued exposure tends to lead to delusions of granduer. Some of the foremost experts on the Breach have ended up becoming mass murdering psychopaths. Athri Bonewitch in particular managed to hide her insanity for years as she accumulated approximately 19 stones and used her power to nearly destroy an entire nation. Her reason for eventually retreating is unknown, but she has been twisting reality in a forest around the equator for nearly a century, turning it into a forest of bones.

Undeath is a common result of Breach affiliation, and while this was originally considered a curse, it has spawned one of Ardat's most successful nations and the undead are generally treated with courtesy. The most common undead seen, though not the only kinds are ghouls, mummies, vampires, liches and skeletons. Ghouls are permanently rotting, though this does not impede them in any way, though they do appear to have issues with their own smell. Mummies tend to actually grow more powerful from other people paying atrention to them, those that engage in combat usually try to cause fear. Vampires are typical and do not sparkle. Liches draw power from any magic cast around them and have not removed any portion of their souls. Skeletons are powered by a kinetic magic that draws energy from the movement around them. Natually they are suited to a more phyisical combat.

[flame99]

I love this world so far. Definitely posting to watch.

[MrVoid]

I love this world so far. Definitely posting to watch.

Glad you like!

I welcome questions as they help to remind me of the more interesting points and show me what interests everyone else.

Somehow, i've managed to forget to mention that this world's mechanics are derived from the rules of http://www.ruleofcool.comby Rule of Cool games.

While the official title of Adventurer is difficult to acquire, usually requiring sanction by at least one government, this does not deter mercenaries, vagabonds, highwaymen and generally crazy homeless people with weapons from exploring the countryside.  Most business on Ardat is not catered to these groups. In fact, normal merchants often refuse to do business with unsanctioned adventurers, whose gold is dubious at best and covered in blood at worst. This has led to the development of two systems, the clout and the guild system. Clout is essentially a statement by a person or group that the adventurers in question are either trustworthy enough to accept their money or that another person, usually the clout sponsor, will cover the expenses that the adventurers incur. Naturally, someone with a number of clout sponsors are more likely to find places where they can do business. The guild system is essentially exclusive clubs dedicated to serving the more adventurous types. Usually staffed by former adventurers, the guilds understand that sometimes money is a little dirty, particularly when covered in ancient ash from the inside of some poor sods burial urn. Their work is usually a little less professional, but occasionally you can find a diamond in the rough.

Education om Ardat is usually limited to the wealthy or exceptionally gifted. Most children are taught how to read and write along with basic math. What comes after depends on their family. The exceptions to this rule are only in certain magocracies that dot the planet. Children who express intense magical talent upon receiving their breach stone are granted entrance to their schools for free.

I've been considering adding naming rules to the common tongue of this world. Male and female would need to be differentiated by name almost exclusively since breach transformations can change their form so much. It feels like it creates more trouble than its worth however.

[MrVoid]

Interestingly, Ardat's  insanely slow population growth is buffered ny the surprisingly common existence of agelessness.  Continued exposure to breach stones tends to cause this in many. The undead are usually the first to acquire this; however, others have been known to acquire it at the same time. There have been no cases where an ageless one has been fertile.

Due to the Breach's, some would call, corruptive nature, organizations have risen against the continued use of Breach magic. These groups are usually treated with disdain, however this does not stop them from having influence. They have successfully petitioned some governments for the limitation of direct contact with breach stones. In these places, the numbers of Lost amongst the general population has decreased, but has increased amongst the poor and destitute. It seems that a black market immediately springs up, offering power to those who have none.

Religion on Ardat is interesting.  The only god who seems to physically exist (maybe) is Zeim god of magic. Other gods are worshipped as a cultural preference, the breach is sometimes worshipped as a contemporary or avatar of Zeim, though it has shown no signs pf intelligence. Other common aspects of worship are nature, the planet, the sky, sun, stars, fire and water.

Last topic of today maybe last total, before a (maybe) forum game. Magical items are difficult to make, especially one that operates as you expect it to. Applying magic to an metal can be done either through heating a breach stone to the point where it breaks down and can be used as a fuel. Weapons smelted from these fires come out with differing propertiea based on the unknowable compositions of the fuel stone. The other method is ritually blessing the weapon, usually much more reliable but often costing a great deal.  Enchanted plant and animal materials are more commonly acquired by allowing the specimin to afilliate with the breach while alive and the properties should remain after death.  These materials, as a result of their breach based nature, tend to bond with sentient lifeforms. The bonding process tends to take about 24 hours during that period the magic will not operate, but afterward will respond to he weilders thoughts. Having more than a few items bound to a single sentient tends to cause a reaction similar to becoming lost care must be taken when binding and and unbinding magical items.

[flame99]

If you do make a forum game off of this world, please link it here. It sounds really fun.

[MrVoid]

The game is here

[The Froggy Ninja]

Do people who can breed after mutation pass those traits on to their children?

[Terrahex]

How often do these stones fall? How many typically do so? Are they rare/coveted? I've got to imagine there are Ardatians who worship the things