I'm super excited for the actual play campaign but I'm also happy to see that a lot of thought and effort is going into the set up. This should make for a much more immersing world and more passionate play. I like the direction it is going and I resonated with the creation myth it all flowed together nicely . I didn't think of anything to add this time but keep it up 👍💪
Happy to hear the setting comes together in a way that works for you! I think I mentioned it early on already that as far as campaign play goes, not a second of this series is necessary to start playing. I'm just doing it because I feel like giving some thought to the world beforehand instead of discovering it through oracles rolls and questions as I play. But it'd totally work to just throw together a party and start playing.
I am fully caught up to this series now, right before the next episode (i have seen your community post 👀) 🎉 REALLY REALLY enjoying it, this is very awesome, thank you so much 🙌 Especially the creation myth from this episode is giving me personally strong Silmarillion/Tolkien vibes with a dark twist, and I'm really loving that 💛 Generally, I think the dark fantasy genre is perfect for RPG settings, because the "darkness" inherently creates in-world tension and conflict, which obviously is great to drive a narrative forward. I really like the way you incorporated the concept of "the ShadowDark as an actual entity" into the worldbuilding, it's super satisfying to have game mechanics actually anchored in lore. Very much looking forward to the next episode, gonna check out your other worldbuilding serieses until then :) ALL the best 💛
Amazing background, I agree with the others, that this came together exceedingly well. I like that it leaves enough room to add details when and where needed. Just a good amount of necessities.
I'm definitely digging the Silmarillion vibes of the Creation Myth. I also like the idea that the Incarnates were seen as uncaring by the mortals they created because they cannot understand the mortals' needs as a facet of their existence. It certainly would provide an interesting perspective on the Arch-Lich that is imprisoned near Rhun Kell; he might not necessarily have believed that he was doing evil when he committed deicide. That being said, I've got a question: how does one kill an Incarnate? We know that they can be killed, after all. I imagine it has something to do with the Shadowdark-infused metal you mentioned (Darksteel? Shadowiron? Coremetal?).
I'm struggling a bit with the nature "deity" of Rhun Kel. It almost feels a little too recent to have been one of the original "choir voice" incarnates. There's something missing, I think. Some type of "in-between" that isn't an incarnate and isn't a "new god" either. The terminology is a bit challenging anyway because there's no distinction made by the people in this world. To them, they're all gods. To the respective deities themselves, they'll have a completely different understanding of what they are. As for killing incarnates, I wonder if that'd even be achievable or what that'd look like. How do you kill the concept of tectonic plates throwing up mountains and causing earthquakes? Their mortality is certainly implied by the existence of Shiga and its domain over anything to end but I feel like once incarnates die, the world goes with them. Which is pretty much what the Shadow-Dark wants, so it might know of a way. I don't think the "old pantheon" was killed because it was so uncaring. I think they went away in some shape or form. Maybe not entirely voluntarily but as a product of their struggle against Koroth and the darkness. They're still around but they're static. Sort of like an ent that turns into a tree. At least that's my gut feeling when considering the topic for now. I may talk myself round to something else when I actually structure it and lay it out, but I'm going to be recording that bit!
@@killtenratsrpg I might say you answered the inbetween in the video. The Incarnate where big things, natural forces and tried to contain the shadowdark, which worked fine, but the set themselves as you say to those forms where the shadow is maleable and tricky and it started to reach out in between so the next voice split not into a big thing, but into multiple somewhat smaller things with one of those potentially Rhun Kel. Could be titans or something like that. From there they found that they need even smaller things, where one or a few decided to create mortals and other creatures.
@@padreic4898 I'm thinking either one voice going more "micro" or several voices splintering off aspects of themselves that then exist separately from (but are still connected to) whatever concept their domain is but strengthen one or several aspects of it. This'd give us a bit of a leg up in understanding Shiga as well. It might actually be better to call these fragments "incarnates", since that'd be a bit more accurate, but "aspects" or similar also works. If we're leaning towards "incarnate" for the in-between, maybe our voices are the "eternals". Seems a bit cleaner. Could be incarnating into this level below the main universal concept is necessary because of time scale and such. I'm thinking of ents again in a weird way. If the force governing the concept of storms and wild weather wants to keep up with a decisive war fought in a matter of five days on a scale of three mid-sized armies, it'll need to adapt to this scale somehow or it'll register that it even happened about five centuries after the fact.
Loved this. The ideas and thoughts presented were very creatively inspiring. Perhaps a risk of the Choir Incarnating is that opens them up to influence by the Shadowdark itself, as it has spread to affect all aspects of this physical creation (maybe some of the more celestial Incarnates are spared it's influence for that reason). This, along with the Incarnates lack of understanding and compassion towards what they perceive as blood cells/immune system is why the ones we know sort of have a darker aspect (Shiga being associated with murder, etc, whereas at first it was just the concept of an end). Perhaps the New Gods are not so afflicted? Or perhaps they are, but have a greater grasp of mortality than the Incarnates do? Regardless, loved this episode the most of them all! Fascinating stuff! Keep up the good work!
It's tempting to lean towards the Shadow-Dark being a corrupting influence strong enough to affect even the universal forces of creation so maybe it can happen (albeit hopefully rarely). There's also the idea that there might be an "in-between" level of existence that is a "separate but connected" aspect of a voice of the choir manifesting to intervene more directly in events, which then opens this "avatar form" to Shadow-Dark corruption. I definitely like the interplay potential! As for the new gods, I'd say they definitely understand mortality than incarnates. I'm strongly suspecting they started out mortals in some way and one of their primary reasons for existing is to bridge the gap between incarnate forces and mortal sentients.
The "tectonic" nature of the Shadowdark is interesting given you have a volcano. Perhaps earthquakes play a role as the inciting incident for the sapients rebelling.
Oh absolutely, I think especially in these early pre-historic and now forgotten times the world was a lot less stable. It probably settled over time as the incarnates strengthen their hold over the core of the Shadow-Dark but its early break-out attempts no doubt shook the world quite literally.
ShadowDark is recast Khyber from Eberron Campaign Setting by Keith Baker. Grim Dark medieval has lots to share with Pulp Adventure and Pulp Noir. But how do the gods treat the PCs? Do they ask, "Are you still useful to me?" or "Are you my rebellious child?" Will your party bring multiple priests? Hirelings cost gp but new PCs are free!
Oh neat, I'm pretty clueless on Eberron outside of a handful of hours in D&D Online when it launched. Khyber looks intriguing, I just had a quick browse around a few wiki pages. And I'm absolutely on the same page regarding the pulp / sword&sorcery / grimdark overlap. They're doing a lot of the same things with different emphasis and plot pay-off. As for the gods, I'm not quite sure yet. They're probably a little more diverse in their approach than the incarnates, so the bandwidth most certainly ranges from "what use are you to me and what have you done to me lately" to "you poor fleeting soul, how I pity you and your futile struggles".
I'm taking fairly detailed notes this time around so I can hopefully throw a rough setting write-up together after we've got the fundamentals down. So if anyone genuinely looks to run a couple of adventures in this setting or wants to cannibalize an aspect or three for their own world, I'd like to make this as easy as possible!
Yeah that "we have the Silmarillion at home" vibe just sort of manifested due to the subject matter and I do like that type of worldbuilding (among other styles), so I'm happy to explore it a little in this setting. "Shameless and fairly badly disguised plagiarism" in TTRPGs is just best practice tbh!
![Swords and Gravity | BLACK SWORD HACK | Solo Actual Play [EP2]](/img/1.gif)
this shapping to be an awesome story. the whole thing has been dope ride!
the creation myth was actually really awesome and evocative!
I'm super excited for the actual play campaign but I'm also happy to see that a lot of thought and effort is going into the set up. This should make for a much more immersing world and more passionate play. I like the direction it is going and I resonated with the creation myth it all flowed together nicely . I didn't think of anything to add this time but keep it up 👍💪
Happy to hear the setting comes together in a way that works for you! I think I mentioned it early on already that as far as campaign play goes, not a second of this series is necessary to start playing. I'm just doing it because I feel like giving some thought to the world beforehand instead of discovering it through oracles rolls and questions as I play. But it'd totally work to just throw together a party and start playing.
@killtenratsrpg Yes, I bet both styles of play are fun in their own way . But you also got some extra content out of doing it this way too haha 👍
I am fully caught up to this series now, right before the next episode (i have seen your community post 👀) 🎉
REALLY REALLY enjoying it, this is very awesome, thank you so much 🙌
Especially the creation myth from this episode is giving me personally strong Silmarillion/Tolkien vibes with a dark twist, and I'm really loving that 💛
Generally, I think the dark fantasy genre is perfect for RPG settings, because the "darkness" inherently creates in-world tension and conflict, which obviously is great to drive a narrative forward.
I really like the way you incorporated the concept of "the ShadowDark as an actual entity" into the worldbuilding, it's super satisfying to have game mechanics actually anchored in lore.
Very much looking forward to the next episode, gonna check out your other worldbuilding serieses until then :)
ALL the best 💛
Good oracle and great imagination can create awesome worlds. GJ
Thank you! I appreciate you tuning in!
You don't know how bad I was hoping for a new upload in this moment . Fist thing on my home page. Prayers answered 😅
Amazing background, I agree with the others, that this came together exceedingly well. I like that it leaves enough room to add details when and where needed. Just a good amount of necessities.
I hope I can resist the urge to dig too deep into the details, otherwise this'll be a 20+ part series in a few months!
I'm definitely digging the Silmarillion vibes of the Creation Myth. I also like the idea that the Incarnates were seen as uncaring by the mortals they created because they cannot understand the mortals' needs as a facet of their existence. It certainly would provide an interesting perspective on the Arch-Lich that is imprisoned near Rhun Kell; he might not necessarily have believed that he was doing evil when he committed deicide.
That being said, I've got a question: how does one kill an Incarnate? We know that they can be killed, after all. I imagine it has something to do with the Shadowdark-infused metal you mentioned (Darksteel? Shadowiron? Coremetal?).
I'm struggling a bit with the nature "deity" of Rhun Kel. It almost feels a little too recent to have been one of the original "choir voice" incarnates. There's something missing, I think. Some type of "in-between" that isn't an incarnate and isn't a "new god" either. The terminology is a bit challenging anyway because there's no distinction made by the people in this world. To them, they're all gods. To the respective deities themselves, they'll have a completely different understanding of what they are.
As for killing incarnates, I wonder if that'd even be achievable or what that'd look like. How do you kill the concept of tectonic plates throwing up mountains and causing earthquakes? Their mortality is certainly implied by the existence of Shiga and its domain over anything to end but I feel like once incarnates die, the world goes with them. Which is pretty much what the Shadow-Dark wants, so it might know of a way.
I don't think the "old pantheon" was killed because it was so uncaring. I think they went away in some shape or form. Maybe not entirely voluntarily but as a product of their struggle against Koroth and the darkness. They're still around but they're static. Sort of like an ent that turns into a tree. At least that's my gut feeling when considering the topic for now. I may talk myself round to something else when I actually structure it and lay it out, but I'm going to be recording that bit!
@@killtenratsrpg I might say you answered the inbetween in the video. The Incarnate where big things, natural forces and tried to contain the shadowdark, which worked fine, but the set themselves as you say to those forms where the shadow is maleable and tricky and it started to reach out in between so the next voice split not into a big thing, but into multiple somewhat smaller things with one of those potentially Rhun Kel. Could be titans or something like that. From there they found that they need even smaller things, where one or a few decided to create mortals and other creatures.
@@padreic4898 I'm thinking either one voice going more "micro" or several voices splintering off aspects of themselves that then exist separately from (but are still connected to) whatever concept their domain is but strengthen one or several aspects of it. This'd give us a bit of a leg up in understanding Shiga as well. It might actually be better to call these fragments "incarnates", since that'd be a bit more accurate, but "aspects" or similar also works. If we're leaning towards "incarnate" for the in-between, maybe our voices are the "eternals". Seems a bit cleaner. Could be incarnating into this level below the main universal concept is necessary because of time scale and such. I'm thinking of ents again in a weird way. If the force governing the concept of storms and wild weather wants to keep up with a decisive war fought in a matter of five days on a scale of three mid-sized armies, it'll need to adapt to this scale somehow or it'll register that it even happened about five centuries after the fact.
Loved this. The ideas and thoughts presented were very creatively inspiring.
Perhaps a risk of the Choir Incarnating is that opens them up to influence by the Shadowdark itself, as it has spread to affect all aspects of this physical creation (maybe some of the more celestial Incarnates are spared it's influence for that reason). This, along with the Incarnates lack of understanding and compassion towards what they perceive as blood cells/immune system is why the ones we know sort of have a darker aspect (Shiga being associated with murder, etc, whereas at first it was just the concept of an end).
Perhaps the New Gods are not so afflicted? Or perhaps they are, but have a greater grasp of mortality than the Incarnates do?
Regardless, loved this episode the most of them all! Fascinating stuff! Keep up the good work!
It's tempting to lean towards the Shadow-Dark being a corrupting influence strong enough to affect even the universal forces of creation so maybe it can happen (albeit hopefully rarely). There's also the idea that there might be an "in-between" level of existence that is a "separate but connected" aspect of a voice of the choir manifesting to intervene more directly in events, which then opens this "avatar form" to Shadow-Dark corruption. I definitely like the interplay potential! As for the new gods, I'd say they definitely understand mortality than incarnates. I'm strongly suspecting they started out mortals in some way and one of their primary reasons for existing is to bridge the gap between incarnate forces and mortal sentients.
The "tectonic" nature of the Shadowdark is interesting given you have a volcano. Perhaps earthquakes play a role as the inciting incident for the sapients rebelling.
Oh absolutely, I think especially in these early pre-historic and now forgotten times the world was a lot less stable. It probably settled over time as the incarnates strengthen their hold over the core of the Shadow-Dark but its early break-out attempts no doubt shook the world quite literally.
ShadowDark is recast Khyber from Eberron Campaign Setting by Keith Baker. Grim Dark medieval has lots to share with Pulp Adventure and Pulp Noir.
But how do the gods treat the PCs? Do they ask, "Are you still useful to me?" or "Are you my rebellious child?" Will your party bring multiple priests? Hirelings cost gp but new PCs are free!
Oh neat, I'm pretty clueless on Eberron outside of a handful of hours in D&D Online when it launched. Khyber looks intriguing, I just had a quick browse around a few wiki pages. And I'm absolutely on the same page regarding the pulp / sword&sorcery / grimdark overlap. They're doing a lot of the same things with different emphasis and plot pay-off.
As for the gods, I'm not quite sure yet. They're probably a little more diverse in their approach than the incarnates, so the bandwidth most certainly ranges from "what use are you to me and what have you done to me lately" to "you poor fleeting soul, how I pity you and your futile struggles".
I don't just want to watch this, I want to play this game!! 😅
I'm taking fairly detailed notes this time around so I can hopefully throw a rough setting write-up together after we've got the fundamentals down. So if anyone genuinely looks to run a couple of adventures in this setting or wants to cannibalize an aspect or three for their own world, I'd like to make this as easy as possible!
very lord of the rings for a minute there
Yeah that "we have the Silmarillion at home" vibe just sort of manifested due to the subject matter and I do like that type of worldbuilding (among other styles), so I'm happy to explore it a little in this setting. "Shameless and fairly badly disguised plagiarism" in TTRPGs is just best practice tbh!