Game Design

The world of Asecia is a world constantly in the flux. That’s true in several ways. The campaign I am planning will start with a revelation that will change the world for years to come. On the other hand my thoughts about the world, my ideas are constantly changing, evolving, developing. When I wrote the first sentences in August the concept of avatars hasn’t been there yet and the world in mind looked much like Europe in the Victorian age with some magic thrown in. Asecia has changed a lot in the last weeks.

When you read all my Dungeoncraft articles in one session you’ll probably noticed that there are some things that don’t quite fit. That’s because Asecia is a world under construction. And sometimes I even introduce a new idea while I am writing it all down. My plan is to sit down in the end and write a definitive guide to Asecia. So please bear with me.

The look and feel of Asecia
During the last week I decided to make Asecia a more dark and gritty world as it has been before. But don’t fear it will turn into some horror game. Although there are already some horror elements (like the secret of Rivenar), there will be a lot of space for heroic adventure.
The major cities in Asecia have grown enormously in the last few decades and the industrial revolution is present everywhere. The outskirts of the cities are dominated by factories and the homes of the poor worker class. The city centers are usually the home of the more influential people including mage families and rich industrialists. The cities are always bustling with activity, heavy-duty industrial golems are transporting goods or constructing new buildings, airships are high up in the skies bringing passengers and cargo to their destinations.

Technomancy
Initially Asecia was planned as my version of the Arcanum world from the computer game of the same name. But early on I decided that it was much cooler to combine technology and magic instead of having a magic-tech dichotomy. This combination of both worlds is called Technomancy. Technomages from the Principality of St. Michael are using advanced technology and millenia old magical techniques to create wondrous contraptions like the war golems that are in use in many armies of the world or the airships that are the backbone of modern transportation.

Hinterland
In Asecia the cities are points of light in a dark world. Most of the hinterland is unsafe for travelers, forests are the home to many dangerous beasts that pose a danger to the communities in the area. From time to time local rulers and the central goverments send out their troops to make sure the trade lanes are kept safe. There are also a lot of ruins dotting the wilderness and many adventurous types try their luck and venture into these dark places in the hopes of finding lost treasures.

Adventurers
There are many opportunities for adventurers in Asecia. Although its a time of peace, the different nations use several methods to get advantage of the other nations. They employ spies, saboteurs, sometimes even mercenaries. In recent years many of the nations of Asecia have paid adventurers to fight monsters in the hinterland or protect caravans, because it’s usually cheaper than to send the army.
Often adventurers and mercenaries are hired as bodyguards or to help solve crimes when the local police doesn’t have enough manpower or skill to handle the situation at hand.

Clothes make the man
Clothes have been always an easy way to show off your wealth and standing. And this is still true in modern day Asecia. High ranking mages often wear the traditional sorceror robes. But a lot of younger mages combine modern suits (double-breated jackets are currently in fashion) with a lighter version of the mage robe (much like the lawyers and judges of our world, who have to wear special robes of office). The modern Asecian man usually wears a suit, leather shoes and a leather coat and hat for protection against the elements. People better off usually wear suits created out of better and more expensive cloths. The most expensive cloth is mageweave which has threads of pure magic woven into the fabric, that make it more sturdy and creates an elaborate magic line pattern.
Women in Asecia usually wear dresses but in recent years women have started wearing trousers, too, much to the dismay of traditionalists. The favorite fabric for clothing is wool but often leather is also used, especially for coats and heavy jackets. Clothes for craftsmen, technomancers and adventurers often have a lot of pockets to help store all the tools and equipment these people need.

“You’re in the army now”
The armies of the Asecian nations have been reformed greatly over the last decades. Armies of force-drafted peasents are now replaced by smaller armies consiting of highly trained individuals. The standard soldier wears a woolen uniform, sometimes an armored coat, leather boots and a wide-brimmed leather hat or a metal helmet. A modern soldier carries a rifle and has a large knife or a sword for defense in close quarters.
In earlier times most officers where sorcerers but nowadays there are only a few mages in the armies.
The age of industrialisation has brought the introduction of large numbers of war golems to the battlefield and airships allow the quick transportation of troops through the air. 

This concludes this episode of Dungeoncraft. I hope you have a clearer picture of Asecia now. If you have any questions or criticism let me know in the comments below.

In most medieval-fantasy campaigns the gods are very real, they grant spells to their most devout followers and they sometimes even walk the earth. In a world like Asecia, I want religion (especially organized religion) on of the major forces of the world but I don’t want gods meddle with the affairs of humans. Although there are several religions on Asecia the gods themselves never interact with the living (although the pious believers will probably tell you otherwise).

As I wrote about in the first episode, there is no special divine magic. But most people believe that the mark of sorcery is a gift from god (or the gods) and organized religion and the magocracies worked hand-in-hand for millenia. But in the times of urbanization and industrialisation the power of religion starts to wane.
But let’s first talk about the major religions.

The Holy Cerynian Church of the Great Architect
Shortly after the Cerynian empire became the first democracy the Cerynians adopted the religion of the Great Architect. In earlier times they revered the Three Sisters, three vengeful and unforgiving goddesses. But then a young prophet from a small province at the border of the empire started to tell the people about the Great Architect, a loving and creating god that created the world for humans to make their own. The new religion was very successful with artists and craftsmen, that preferred the positive creativity of the Great Architect over fearful obedience to the Sisters. Especially the mages opposed that new religion because they feared that they would lose their power, because it was believed that magic was a gift from the Sisters. But in the end the new religion prevailed.

The Holy Cerynian Church of the Great Architect is now one of the major religions in Cerynia and the other nations of Asecia. Following a long tradition most priests were craftsmen or artist before they were ordained. Followers of the Great Architect believe that the best way to please their god is to create something that outlasts their death, like a piece of art or a building. Members of the Church of the Great Architect don’t beliefe in an afterlife and they strive to live a fulfilling and pious life.
The Symbol of the Church of the Great Architect is a hammer and compasses. The priest usually don’t take a vow of chastity but some monks do so in order to focus on their religious or scientific studies but those vows are normally not for life. The tradional garb of the priests is a simple grey hooded robe.

The Brotherhood of the Three Sisters
Although the Brotherhood has lost most of its members hundreds of years ago, the religion is still alive. The Brotherhood believes in the Three Sisters, three vengful (sometimes almost evil) goddesses that expect complete obedience from their followes. In Brotherhood dogma all sorcerors are the Sisters’ children and shall be revered as well. In the Brotherhood only men are allowed to pray and take part in church service. There are a lot of rules which regulate the lives of the believers and not following those rules leads to fast and draconic punishment. The Brotherhood’s symbol are three black female figures in front of a red disc. The priests usually wear read, unadorned robes and featureless black masks that cover the whole face.

The Church of St. Michael
Michael d’Arellien was a minor noble with almost no magical talent born on one of the island that are now called the Principality of St. Michael. He was a devout follower of the Great Architect but pretty insignificant until a fateful day when suddenly his magical talent increased hundredfold. It is said that his magical aura and his eyes were shining bright as the sun even when he was not actively using magic. That influx of power has given him immense insight and hidden knowledge of the world. He used his new-found talent to help people, heal the sick and he preached about a better world for all humans. Many people believed that he was the reincarnation of the Great Prophet or an avatar of the Great Architect himself.

He convinced the Cerynian Empire to grant the Western Isles independence and became their first prince. But he tought of himself not as the ruler but the servant of his people. In the following years tales of miracles spread throughout the Isles.
All of the Principality sects started to rise that believed the prince was more than a man. They believed he was the Architect himself walking amonst men. And when Michael d’Arellien suddenly vanished without the trace it was believed that he transcended.

Today the major religion of the Isles is Michaelism. The Church of St. Michael still resembles the Chruch of the Great Architect but its followers believe that a man, St. Michael of Arellien, was an incarnation of the Architect himself and that he came to lead the Isles into freedom. The priest of that religion wear white silken robes adorned with the symbol of a white-blue star.

Minor Religions
 The citizens of Tovenar are followers of the Great Architect but there was a schism several hundred years ago that lead to the creation of the Holy Tovenari Church. The Holy Tovenari Church uses a slighty modified liturgy and this church is mostly based on monastries. Tovenari priests wear black robes.
There are rumors that the people of the lost kingdom of Rivenar worship some kind of evil entity, but that’s unconfirmed and doubted by most scholars. 
There are also a lot of atheists and agnostics in most countries especially in Cerynia and the Principality. 

So, that concludes this episode of Dungeoncraft.