Your support makes Blue Moon possible (Patreon)Exactly eight years ago today the great Ivy Road, which connects the worlds and in Roots takes the form of a woven green road that impossibly twists in on itself halfway towards the noon day sun, withered but only in the land of Roots. For four years it was only an annoyance as those mighty, those great in magic, and those bearing the shards of the departed creators whether as tools, divinity, or in other, more exotic forms could widen the way for multitudes. Then it began spreading and tightening up, till two years ago when someone made an impossible spiral pyramid to block off the Ivy Road entirely.
Then those closures started to spread to other realms. Most importantly, it spread to the Fallen City, making the realm even worse. The two forbidden gods became even more brazen, the Company remnants began once more sending out hunters for twisted experiments, and not only did the gangs rise up in unfocused violence but new gangs have started to rise, ones that have stolen corporate combat drugs or are experimenting with the Fade and the Feral Glow. Managing to get the gods' opening rituals and reconnecting the Fallen City to the other still open realms means instant fame as great heroes. Failure means being one of many also-rans, and the less said about what would happen if you fell to one of the troubles of the city the better.
Ah, but right now there's more to worry about the banner of the Wolfeye Shifter Gang having just been thrown in through the bar window. They don't so much take prisoners as they take meals, thinking it will eventually grant them full therianthropic powers.
Additional Things:
Regional Feats: These feats are usually found in rare people born in a given realm, but also occur because long time residents can adapt just as well or be lucky enough to be in the right place to receive the kinds of boons some of these feats represent. But unless one of these feats says otherwise, only one on a person.
Feat - Repulsive Curse - Magic lies heavy in many of the older lands, and you’ve learned how to make others feel this. Once per day (plus one additional time per three levels you have) you may choose to take a special demoralize action that inflicts a different result instead of shaken. By default undead and constructs are Blown Away in a direction of the user’s choice and other targets are Stunned. Spending an Action point makes all creatures Blown Away and undead and constructs take lethal damage instead of non-lethal. This can be gained only by finding and studying De Verbis Misteriis.
Domains - The (inaccurately labeled) five greatest of the gods each have two domains that are basically only normally available to their clerics. This is that list.
Dionysus - Luck, Madness
Athena - Artifice, Inquisition
Odin - Deathless, Destiny
Moloch - City, Incarnum (called Machine Core)
WuguShen - Plant, Nobility
Kali - Exorcism, Pact
Biomancy and You - Quick Reference to Biomancy spells. They are a select number of necromancy, enchantment, and transmutation spells that manipulate biology, especially that of humanoids. Trained Biomancers treat some additional spells of those schools as Biomancy, including their healing spells. Despite the attempts of the heirs of Jal Thalun to keep these arts secret, many have escaped into the world. Only their healing spells are totally safe within the ranks of Biomancy schools, as they require enough specialzied training that anyone that could steal those spells would already be a fully trained Biomancer. The exact arts by which Jal Thalun and his offspring created new life are useless to most (they require the Forge of Life and lots of Biomantic supplies), but still known. Most probably dream of being powerful enough to cast a Crossbreeding spell rather than seeking out the Forge and how to use it, but must suffice with hiring a trained sage.
Then those closures started to spread to other realms. Most importantly, it spread to the Fallen City, making the realm even worse. The two forbidden gods became even more brazen, the Company remnants began once more sending out hunters for twisted experiments, and not only did the gangs rise up in unfocused violence but new gangs have started to rise, ones that have stolen corporate combat drugs or are experimenting with the Fade and the Feral Glow. Managing to get the gods' opening rituals and reconnecting the Fallen City to the other still open realms means instant fame as great heroes. Failure means being one of many also-rans, and the less said about what would happen if you fell to one of the troubles of the city the better.
Ah, but right now there's more to worry about the banner of the Wolfeye Shifter Gang having just been thrown in through the bar window. They don't so much take prisoners as they take meals, thinking it will eventually grant them full therianthropic powers.
So, as the title indicated, this is using both 3.5 and Pathfinder stuff. It's mostly going to be 3.5 with some Pathfinder stuff bolted on mostly for the enjoyment of the non-Bo9S martials, and for a set of lewd rules I don't have to make up on my own. Caster stuff can be adapted, but will be bolted onto the 3.5 chassis with two exceptions. The major exception would be the Artificer. Just use Alchemist and put those Artificer spells on there if necessary. The more minor one is Wild Shape. Use the Aspect of Dragon or Pathfinder versions.
Skills will partially be using the Pathfinder skills. Partially because I'm giving an option. You can either treat ranks in a skill that was rolled together with others as ranks in those other skills or invest into those other skills and get to roll multiple times. To use the classic example, Hide and Move Silently became Stealth in Pathfinder. So you can either put ranks into Hide and also treat those ranks as having be put in Move Silently, or put ranks into both and get to use the better of your Move Silently and Hide rolls for any sneaking.
Guns are mostly treated as common, although they're simple weapons, and the higher the skill you have with firearms the faster you can reload. So the gunslinging types that usually have it as an Exotic are treated as having Rapid Reload for them and those with just Martial get need the feat or else increase the Misfire rating by two. Modern Guns are generally treated as Hypertech items. The skill Truenaming will have other uses, and saner DCs than in the book if anyone's interested in it. Crafting will be difficult to do until the state of the Fallen City is changed. Finally, there is a new skill Hypertech (Int), which is used to repair, identify, and occasionally create or use technology of the Creators.
Finally, creationwise, this game will use Items of Legend, Action Points, Flaws, potentially Lemmy’s Custom Weapon Generation System, and characters should find themselves, though levels and adjustment, at 5th.
As a semi-reminder, Races should get the kind of +2 final balance to stats if you're not creating a new race or using one that takes a bit more work to convert (like most LA races). And while it's more setting stuff, I feel I should actually cover this here. Races like the Duergar, Drow, Svirfneblin, and others of that kind are usually seen as somewhat arrogant members of their beastman/demihuman types because they've raced towards the heights of (unaltered) power that their type can handle. The Always Evil, Hide from or Kill types are the Faded, and they span all types. Even machines, despite Lord Moloch's best attempts to destroy them all.
This should probably be Additional Material, but it goes with the above. Common phylogeny puts humans at the center of a pair of axes. One is Magic-Psychic with much contention for the premier of the Magic, but the commonness of the Synad has put them just over the Elan and Kalashtar for the common image of Psychic races, as that axis is concerned with innate ability as opposed to difference from the eldest race. The other axis is Machine-Monster, as unflattering as it sounds. The old premier for Machine were a few versions of born Cyborg (Azurin, Skarn, Rilkan, and Duskling), but with the viability of the various Mechs and Full Conversion Cyborgs (Warforged) as species, they have eclipsed the far more meaty Cyborgs. Although the symbol of monster has long been some kind of demihuman (elf, ork, dwarf, halfling, and so on) or beastman (gnolls, treants, lizardfolk, etc.) with an effect suggesting that they were one of the Shifters that knew many forms or were a Changeling a few races like Dragons and other not at all human shaped races are sometimes there instead.
Skills will partially be using the Pathfinder skills. Partially because I'm giving an option. You can either treat ranks in a skill that was rolled together with others as ranks in those other skills or invest into those other skills and get to roll multiple times. To use the classic example, Hide and Move Silently became Stealth in Pathfinder. So you can either put ranks into Hide and also treat those ranks as having be put in Move Silently, or put ranks into both and get to use the better of your Move Silently and Hide rolls for any sneaking.
Guns are mostly treated as common, although they're simple weapons, and the higher the skill you have with firearms the faster you can reload. So the gunslinging types that usually have it as an Exotic are treated as having Rapid Reload for them and those with just Martial get need the feat or else increase the Misfire rating by two. Modern Guns are generally treated as Hypertech items. The skill Truenaming will have other uses, and saner DCs than in the book if anyone's interested in it. Crafting will be difficult to do until the state of the Fallen City is changed. Finally, there is a new skill Hypertech (Int), which is used to repair, identify, and occasionally create or use technology of the Creators.
Finally, creationwise, this game will use Items of Legend, Action Points, Flaws, potentially Lemmy’s Custom Weapon Generation System, and characters should find themselves, though levels and adjustment, at 5th.
As a semi-reminder, Races should get the kind of +2 final balance to stats if you're not creating a new race or using one that takes a bit more work to convert (like most LA races). And while it's more setting stuff, I feel I should actually cover this here. Races like the Duergar, Drow, Svirfneblin, and others of that kind are usually seen as somewhat arrogant members of their beastman/demihuman types because they've raced towards the heights of (unaltered) power that their type can handle. The Always Evil, Hide from or Kill types are the Faded, and they span all types. Even machines, despite Lord Moloch's best attempts to destroy them all.
This should probably be Additional Material, but it goes with the above. Common phylogeny puts humans at the center of a pair of axes. One is Magic-Psychic with much contention for the premier of the Magic, but the commonness of the Synad has put them just over the Elan and Kalashtar for the common image of Psychic races, as that axis is concerned with innate ability as opposed to difference from the eldest race. The other axis is Machine-Monster, as unflattering as it sounds. The old premier for Machine were a few versions of born Cyborg (Azurin, Skarn, Rilkan, and Duskling), but with the viability of the various Mechs and Full Conversion Cyborgs (Warforged) as species, they have eclipsed the far more meaty Cyborgs. Although the symbol of monster has long been some kind of demihuman (elf, ork, dwarf, halfling, and so on) or beastman (gnolls, treants, lizardfolk, etc.) with an effect suggesting that they were one of the Shifters that knew many forms or were a Changeling a few races like Dragons and other not at all human shaped races are sometimes there instead.
The Ivy Road is an impossible area of space between the realms. It alternatively looks like a road of ivy warping around a great tree, a path of green crystals though an impossibly dark (yet visible) sea, and a road of plant cells shooting through space impossibly. Very little is known about the time when the first of the gods, the Creators, were around. Even the oldest of the current gods was but raised on not yet ancient stories of that time. Still, fragments of the Creators' power have lasted as have several of their great works.
These fragments may power miraculous weapons without sacrifice of life force or magic, raise up mortals to divinity, and other great things. And despite the games of the gods, there has been enough peace that things could grow and suppress the disasters of the Fade and the Feral Glow; both things as much diseases as beings.
Technically speaking, major realms are ones that do not actively need the powers of the gods to last, but not all of those that qualify are thought of as such and there are two that don’t qualify but are thought of as major. The realms commonly though of as major ones (and why) are as follows: Roots and Electron Alley (the powers of the gods do not function in those two, and they both produce endless amounts of base materials), Baletheos (the Creator's Forge of Life is here, and so near all new species were designed here), Nova Romaly (the birthplace of two of the greatest gods, prostitution, and the ever desired Crimson Field Flower), the Fallen City (an ever steady number of residents and the best black market), The Great Casino (home of Dionysus the Gambler, gambling), The Temple Technological (home of Athena the Scientist, and her great lab), Gimle (home of Odin), and Iti Na (home of several great markets and space).
Most of the gods change on a regular basis, as they are defeated and other become more powerful, hidden power shards are found to raise up new ones, and indeed the chase to become a great enough god that none other can compete is the game of the gods. But there are five (as people tend to limit the list) forerunners in this great game. The first among equals is Dionysus, but perhaps only because he is most preoccupied with his own games and enjoyment and thus no other god desires to attack the Gambler while other gods are in play. If so, then the great tie is only between Odin, Athena, and the newcomer Lord Moloch. Odin is, divinely speaking, the weakest of the three having handed out many shards of power to trusted underlings but this also gives him the strongest army of the gods. None knows more about the works of the Creators than Athena and it makes her realm nigh spyable and unassailable. However, very few of the devices she has created work off power but hers, so she can barely project force beyond her own presence.
Lord Moloch is an unknown and that gives it power. The limits of this Deus Mechina are hazy, and many fear that it may be able to one day take over the great guardian machines that the Creators left behind to defend Important Things. Fifth place has a much easier tie to break for many. Does the relative pacifism of WuguShen put him above or below Odin's lieutenant Kali in your mind? That is how many break the tie, though it results in a lack of consensus.
These fragments may power miraculous weapons without sacrifice of life force or magic, raise up mortals to divinity, and other great things. And despite the games of the gods, there has been enough peace that things could grow and suppress the disasters of the Fade and the Feral Glow; both things as much diseases as beings.
Technically speaking, major realms are ones that do not actively need the powers of the gods to last, but not all of those that qualify are thought of as such and there are two that don’t qualify but are thought of as major. The realms commonly though of as major ones (and why) are as follows: Roots and Electron Alley (the powers of the gods do not function in those two, and they both produce endless amounts of base materials), Baletheos (the Creator's Forge of Life is here, and so near all new species were designed here), Nova Romaly (the birthplace of two of the greatest gods, prostitution, and the ever desired Crimson Field Flower), the Fallen City (an ever steady number of residents and the best black market), The Great Casino (home of Dionysus the Gambler, gambling), The Temple Technological (home of Athena the Scientist, and her great lab), Gimle (home of Odin), and Iti Na (home of several great markets and space).
Most of the gods change on a regular basis, as they are defeated and other become more powerful, hidden power shards are found to raise up new ones, and indeed the chase to become a great enough god that none other can compete is the game of the gods. But there are five (as people tend to limit the list) forerunners in this great game. The first among equals is Dionysus, but perhaps only because he is most preoccupied with his own games and enjoyment and thus no other god desires to attack the Gambler while other gods are in play. If so, then the great tie is only between Odin, Athena, and the newcomer Lord Moloch. Odin is, divinely speaking, the weakest of the three having handed out many shards of power to trusted underlings but this also gives him the strongest army of the gods. None knows more about the works of the Creators than Athena and it makes her realm nigh spyable and unassailable. However, very few of the devices she has created work off power but hers, so she can barely project force beyond her own presence.
Lord Moloch is an unknown and that gives it power. The limits of this Deus Mechina are hazy, and many fear that it may be able to one day take over the great guardian machines that the Creators left behind to defend Important Things. Fifth place has a much easier tie to break for many. Does the relative pacifism of WuguShen put him above or below Odin's lieutenant Kali in your mind? That is how many break the tie, though it results in a lack of consensus.
This is a mostly OOC-ish overview of the major realms to give potential players an idea of what that realm should be like and what some current events are so that you can have some idea what your character should be like if you want them to come from that realm.
Roots: This looks mostly like what you'd think of for a D&D world, but perhaps a bit less so if only because until the Ivy Road began being cut off it was at peace and because the limitless base materials aren't quite as impressive now that the gods can more often do such miracles it also has less armor and weaponry and magics spread about. They're there, but not as common because the needs for them wasn't common.
Unfortunately, as the Ivy Road got sealed more and more, nobles began quarreling. This led to several thieves (on orders of this lord or that lady) to steal from the statue of the Lonely One- a lifesized marble representation of the king that six-ish generations ago unified Roots. His battle cloak, spear, shield, and ring were all stolen, likely to legitimize bits of aggression. Worse, a cell of the Faded has begun cultivating a Mother or Father of the Feral Glow to destroy the smaller towns that have less attention from the great warring powers.
Electron Alley: A bucolic Japanese town, heavy on the industry but still nice and sleepy. There's a bit of intrigue going on with rich families and hard nosed detectives and small criminals, but that's for night time to deal with. In the day you go to work, come back home at twilight, and stay inside during the night if you're an honest citizen.
It was unsealed at the time that the Fallen City got cut off, but the major concern was very simple. How will Electron Alley feed itself? The base material the realm generates isn't great for food unless you can hunt deer, but bows aren't common and guns are restricted. Hunger plus a scandal could lead to bad times for the Alley.
Balethos: Balethos is a worn down land. Not though one great disaster, but many small ones. If not for the Forge of Life, this realm would have long been abandoned to a weary tribalism. As it is, the empire of the Orc bio-wizard Jal Tharun huddles around the Forge, tired yet unwilling to disperse or fall to the Faded Elves. But from the view of those outside the empire, this is a time of wild adventure, where one can carve out a dozen adventures worthy of a great bard's tongue and still find time to loot riches from the cowering empire enough to last to the end of one's days.
Before being cut off from the Ivy Road, a great Necropolis was being formed by the Sandshaper Shūtur naqba īmuru. Although this Sandshaper's ultimate goals were unknown, it had to bode poorly for everyone not her and possibly not undead. In addition, the Faded had failed a great working and unknown beasts started to roam the lands.
Nova Romaly: This is a nicely debauched Rome analogue thanks to the non-disappearance of the wonderous contraceptive, abortefecant, and curative called the Crimson Field Flower and a rather interesting view on prostitution. It was also accepted that a citizen would serve the gods or the state by going out as part of a group to another realm, doing some military or retrieval thing, and then return for a time of enjoying the pleasures of Nova Romaly. For the lower classes this might repeat two or three times if you were lucky enough to survive each, while an ambitious and lucky member of the upper classes could secure their future in one.
Until the closures started to spread, Nova Romaly was content to ignore things and go on stoically continuing their way of life. But upon realizing that they had been cut off from the Temple Technological, a great scramble began to try and reopen at least communication. If they succeeded, then it is likely that Dionysus and Athena kept order. If not, then it is likely that a general panic would have confused things and who knows what will greet the ones that reopen the Via Viridis.
The Fallen City: Even when the Ivy Road was complete, the Fallen City was a violent place that was only kept away from being an unending, rolling war zone by the the works of the gods. And that potential was why the greater gods didn't just take over; the grimy, cheaply sexual city would be a long lasting, very focused bit of hell that would require burning to the floating foundations. Certainly, several gods could manage, but it would take long enough that they'd have to drop out of the game of the gods.
The 'peace' finally broke when it was cut off; the forbidden gods stopped caring about not stepping on each other's toes, the gangs decided to get as much new room as possible, and pretty much every other hot head all decided or was dragged into this. Still, it's a rolling battle. Too bad it looks like it just rolled into here right now.
The Great Casino: The air is supremely relaxed until you get in a few feet of a gambling table or betting kiosk. There the tension could be cut with an adamant knife until a grave hush or wild celebration comes over the assembled gamblers. The lower tables and areas are a bit less relaxed, but unless it's a combat floor this is still a very casual place. The great influx of outsides means that it doesn't have too much of a look of its own, unless you count slightly inebriated undressed-ness as a style.
By all accounts, Dionysus began hoarding supplies in order to celebrate out what he saw as a short term but serious disaster. As its version of the Ivy Road was still openable by mortals (if only a very small percentage) when the Fallen City got cut off, it's unknown how that has gone.
The Temple Technological: Few people see much of the Temple but the top floors and city in it. This is as Athena wants, because the lower levels hold misery and secrets that she doesn't want anyone to see, but mostly it’s the secrets. The rapid progress of the Temple Technological is built on the backs of workers, business owners, and anyone that tried to overthrow the Schedule. Everything is flashier, dirtier, and wilder as you descend into the depths of this Temple and sometimes it’s almost good enough for corporate work, which would probably shock those used to uniformed cleanness of the glistening top layers in a few ways.
Athena's control over the important-to-her parts of the Temple Technological means that loss of contact with Nova Romaly was likely more devastating to her plans than the Temple being sealed up was. Still, she's likely to have started some very draconian measures once it was cut off and that should worry anyone on the outside.
Gimle: Odin's realm is a massive military camp where one can see soldiers training with rifles one day and clubs or spears the next. It is more boisterous and less regimented than a Romaly military camp would be and has much more power and tech on display than even the largest camps. This leads to one-time residents of Gimle being known for bathing more often than just about anyone else, being extremely well groomed between battles, and spending freely to enjoy both.
Last the old campaigner was seen, he seemed to have succeeded in contacting into sealed Balethos and was trying to place a divine soldier and regiment into as many unsealed realms as possible. Of course, with Gimle sealed off, there is none in the Fallen City that knows how far the net was cast or if the contact still works.
Iti Na: Iti Na draws many comparisons to worn down Balethos and the sleek Temple Technological by those that only visit the markets around the space elevator on Iti and in the center of the space station of Na. Anyone with the passion and skills to go and look further can find that the oldest of the working realms is just well worn and the glitzy shit is 90% for tourists.
While this realm has no native gods anymore, this didn’t stop a few truly minor gods from moving in over the years and making their own Deic empires in the distant galaxies. In the span between Roots being fully shut off and Iti Na also being shut off a few more came in to try and make an iron triangle of interstellar powers. Who knows how that went.
Moloch’s Realm: Just aesthetic here, as while it’s a realm many may come from, Moloch’s inhuman thought patterns mean that to anyone without insight into the old AI’s purpose there is nothing coherent being done to appreciate, just a world utterly controlled by an unpredictable god.
Moloch’s realm is a factory sized city, each tiny building a specialized factory town, each tiny park a waste sink, and each road a conveyer belt. The air hums so thick with industry, senseless sabotage, and unnecessary rebuilding. Then you realize that you stepped into one of those specialized factory towns, and only workers are allowed outside, so please do not leave the dome. And the workers are pretty sure that they only have some access, but there’s too much work to do to explore during your precious downtime.
Roots: This looks mostly like what you'd think of for a D&D world, but perhaps a bit less so if only because until the Ivy Road began being cut off it was at peace and because the limitless base materials aren't quite as impressive now that the gods can more often do such miracles it also has less armor and weaponry and magics spread about. They're there, but not as common because the needs for them wasn't common.
Unfortunately, as the Ivy Road got sealed more and more, nobles began quarreling. This led to several thieves (on orders of this lord or that lady) to steal from the statue of the Lonely One- a lifesized marble representation of the king that six-ish generations ago unified Roots. His battle cloak, spear, shield, and ring were all stolen, likely to legitimize bits of aggression. Worse, a cell of the Faded has begun cultivating a Mother or Father of the Feral Glow to destroy the smaller towns that have less attention from the great warring powers.
Electron Alley: A bucolic Japanese town, heavy on the industry but still nice and sleepy. There's a bit of intrigue going on with rich families and hard nosed detectives and small criminals, but that's for night time to deal with. In the day you go to work, come back home at twilight, and stay inside during the night if you're an honest citizen.
It was unsealed at the time that the Fallen City got cut off, but the major concern was very simple. How will Electron Alley feed itself? The base material the realm generates isn't great for food unless you can hunt deer, but bows aren't common and guns are restricted. Hunger plus a scandal could lead to bad times for the Alley.
Balethos: Balethos is a worn down land. Not though one great disaster, but many small ones. If not for the Forge of Life, this realm would have long been abandoned to a weary tribalism. As it is, the empire of the Orc bio-wizard Jal Tharun huddles around the Forge, tired yet unwilling to disperse or fall to the Faded Elves. But from the view of those outside the empire, this is a time of wild adventure, where one can carve out a dozen adventures worthy of a great bard's tongue and still find time to loot riches from the cowering empire enough to last to the end of one's days.
Before being cut off from the Ivy Road, a great Necropolis was being formed by the Sandshaper Shūtur naqba īmuru. Although this Sandshaper's ultimate goals were unknown, it had to bode poorly for everyone not her and possibly not undead. In addition, the Faded had failed a great working and unknown beasts started to roam the lands.
Nova Romaly: This is a nicely debauched Rome analogue thanks to the non-disappearance of the wonderous contraceptive, abortefecant, and curative called the Crimson Field Flower and a rather interesting view on prostitution. It was also accepted that a citizen would serve the gods or the state by going out as part of a group to another realm, doing some military or retrieval thing, and then return for a time of enjoying the pleasures of Nova Romaly. For the lower classes this might repeat two or three times if you were lucky enough to survive each, while an ambitious and lucky member of the upper classes could secure their future in one.
Until the closures started to spread, Nova Romaly was content to ignore things and go on stoically continuing their way of life. But upon realizing that they had been cut off from the Temple Technological, a great scramble began to try and reopen at least communication. If they succeeded, then it is likely that Dionysus and Athena kept order. If not, then it is likely that a general panic would have confused things and who knows what will greet the ones that reopen the Via Viridis.
The Fallen City: Even when the Ivy Road was complete, the Fallen City was a violent place that was only kept away from being an unending, rolling war zone by the the works of the gods. And that potential was why the greater gods didn't just take over; the grimy, cheaply sexual city would be a long lasting, very focused bit of hell that would require burning to the floating foundations. Certainly, several gods could manage, but it would take long enough that they'd have to drop out of the game of the gods.
The 'peace' finally broke when it was cut off; the forbidden gods stopped caring about not stepping on each other's toes, the gangs decided to get as much new room as possible, and pretty much every other hot head all decided or was dragged into this. Still, it's a rolling battle. Too bad it looks like it just rolled into here right now.
The Great Casino: The air is supremely relaxed until you get in a few feet of a gambling table or betting kiosk. There the tension could be cut with an adamant knife until a grave hush or wild celebration comes over the assembled gamblers. The lower tables and areas are a bit less relaxed, but unless it's a combat floor this is still a very casual place. The great influx of outsides means that it doesn't have too much of a look of its own, unless you count slightly inebriated undressed-ness as a style.
By all accounts, Dionysus began hoarding supplies in order to celebrate out what he saw as a short term but serious disaster. As its version of the Ivy Road was still openable by mortals (if only a very small percentage) when the Fallen City got cut off, it's unknown how that has gone.
The Temple Technological: Few people see much of the Temple but the top floors and city in it. This is as Athena wants, because the lower levels hold misery and secrets that she doesn't want anyone to see, but mostly it’s the secrets. The rapid progress of the Temple Technological is built on the backs of workers, business owners, and anyone that tried to overthrow the Schedule. Everything is flashier, dirtier, and wilder as you descend into the depths of this Temple and sometimes it’s almost good enough for corporate work, which would probably shock those used to uniformed cleanness of the glistening top layers in a few ways.
Athena's control over the important-to-her parts of the Temple Technological means that loss of contact with Nova Romaly was likely more devastating to her plans than the Temple being sealed up was. Still, she's likely to have started some very draconian measures once it was cut off and that should worry anyone on the outside.
Gimle: Odin's realm is a massive military camp where one can see soldiers training with rifles one day and clubs or spears the next. It is more boisterous and less regimented than a Romaly military camp would be and has much more power and tech on display than even the largest camps. This leads to one-time residents of Gimle being known for bathing more often than just about anyone else, being extremely well groomed between battles, and spending freely to enjoy both.
Last the old campaigner was seen, he seemed to have succeeded in contacting into sealed Balethos and was trying to place a divine soldier and regiment into as many unsealed realms as possible. Of course, with Gimle sealed off, there is none in the Fallen City that knows how far the net was cast or if the contact still works.
Iti Na: Iti Na draws many comparisons to worn down Balethos and the sleek Temple Technological by those that only visit the markets around the space elevator on Iti and in the center of the space station of Na. Anyone with the passion and skills to go and look further can find that the oldest of the working realms is just well worn and the glitzy shit is 90% for tourists.
While this realm has no native gods anymore, this didn’t stop a few truly minor gods from moving in over the years and making their own Deic empires in the distant galaxies. In the span between Roots being fully shut off and Iti Na also being shut off a few more came in to try and make an iron triangle of interstellar powers. Who knows how that went.
Moloch’s Realm: Just aesthetic here, as while it’s a realm many may come from, Moloch’s inhuman thought patterns mean that to anyone without insight into the old AI’s purpose there is nothing coherent being done to appreciate, just a world utterly controlled by an unpredictable god.
Moloch’s realm is a factory sized city, each tiny building a specialized factory town, each tiny park a waste sink, and each road a conveyer belt. The air hums so thick with industry, senseless sabotage, and unnecessary rebuilding. Then you realize that you stepped into one of those specialized factory towns, and only workers are allowed outside, so please do not leave the dome. And the workers are pretty sure that they only have some access, but there’s too much work to do to explore during your precious downtime.
Additional Things:
- Comes in three grades and (that adventurers would care about) four types. The First type is the Upper Arm or Leg coverings. Either one gives 1 Armor. The Second type is the Full Leg or Tiled Torso coverings. They also only give 1 Armor, but are more prized for the miscellaneous protection they give. Full Leg protects against the contact hazards in the worse rivers and undercity areas until the bearer is tripped or fully submerged, and Tiled Torso gives protection against assassination (read: Heavy Fortification to an unaware assassin but Light or None to an aware killer). The Third Kind is called the Corporate Paladin or Warrior Shirt depending on if the speaker is from the Fallen City or not. It grants an armor bonus of 3. and covers parts of the chest, arms, and other vitals.
The Fourth type of Deadbath armor is the Total Covering. It grants an armor bonus of 5 and despite the name doesn't cover the whole body, merely as much of it as a being can handle. The costs are a mere 2k gp for Upper Leg or Arm, 3k for Full Leg or Tiled Torso, and 40k and 60k for the Paladin and Total armors. While they can be worn with other armor, the lower Armor bonus means that it's more for those that don't want to be seen wearing armor, those that want some backup at all times, and those that have the better grades available, as these are the stats for the Standard Grade.
There is a lower grade, Scavenged, that is anywhere from 1/2 to 3/4ths the price. There are some downsides to this grade, depending on who it's gotten from and how much is covered. The lower end scavengers that should be charging half price but rarely actually do give out Deadbath treatments that also have an armor penalty to actions equal to the armor bonus (double if it needs fine manipulation), and leaves the affected flesh looking glossy and rotted. Needless to say, unless you're trying for sympathy, this look never imposes less than a -5 penalty to social interactions as long as the affected area can be seen. In addition to all that, the Paladin and Total armors have a 10 and a 20 ft movement penalty respectively. Nobody buys the higher coverages from these kinds of people as anything but a very cruel punishment for others.
The better scavengers (which include most of the gangs for their own members) have a much better version of a bad product. The armor penalty only applies to fine manipulation actions with covered hands or quick sneaking with covered feet, and the Paladin and Total coverings only apply a 5ft and 10ft penalty to ground movement, respectively. While these are still visible, these producers at least manage to make it look not horrific at the buyer's desire. This usually means negating any penalty, but the gangs go for their colors and designs which in the Fallen City always carries its own penalties.
The better grade is Divine, because they collectively represent the majority makers of this grade. In the Fallen City, you're more likely to meet someone that has it from the Company, but that's because of proximity. Divine grade Deadbath armor also gives out Damage Resistance equal to the Armor Bonus it gives. If the bearer has no damage resistance from other sources, it is DR/Adamantine, otherwise it boosts existing DR even if it's worse than /Adamantine. Without some kind of in, the first two types of Deathbath armors are available for the princely somes of 15-25k and the two better grades will usually start at nothing less than ten times the price.
The given difficulty is to produce without one of the wondrous production facilities that make the production of the Deadbath fluids an easy enough exercise for a small team of barely skilled workers and a knowledgeable overseer.
The Fourth type of Deadbath armor is the Total Covering. It grants an armor bonus of 5 and despite the name doesn't cover the whole body, merely as much of it as a being can handle. The costs are a mere 2k gp for Upper Leg or Arm, 3k for Full Leg or Tiled Torso, and 40k and 60k for the Paladin and Total armors. While they can be worn with other armor, the lower Armor bonus means that it's more for those that don't want to be seen wearing armor, those that want some backup at all times, and those that have the better grades available, as these are the stats for the Standard Grade.
There is a lower grade, Scavenged, that is anywhere from 1/2 to 3/4ths the price. There are some downsides to this grade, depending on who it's gotten from and how much is covered. The lower end scavengers that should be charging half price but rarely actually do give out Deadbath treatments that also have an armor penalty to actions equal to the armor bonus (double if it needs fine manipulation), and leaves the affected flesh looking glossy and rotted. Needless to say, unless you're trying for sympathy, this look never imposes less than a -5 penalty to social interactions as long as the affected area can be seen. In addition to all that, the Paladin and Total armors have a 10 and a 20 ft movement penalty respectively. Nobody buys the higher coverages from these kinds of people as anything but a very cruel punishment for others.
The better scavengers (which include most of the gangs for their own members) have a much better version of a bad product. The armor penalty only applies to fine manipulation actions with covered hands or quick sneaking with covered feet, and the Paladin and Total coverings only apply a 5ft and 10ft penalty to ground movement, respectively. While these are still visible, these producers at least manage to make it look not horrific at the buyer's desire. This usually means negating any penalty, but the gangs go for their colors and designs which in the Fallen City always carries its own penalties.
The better grade is Divine, because they collectively represent the majority makers of this grade. In the Fallen City, you're more likely to meet someone that has it from the Company, but that's because of proximity. Divine grade Deadbath armor also gives out Damage Resistance equal to the Armor Bonus it gives. If the bearer has no damage resistance from other sources, it is DR/Adamantine, otherwise it boosts existing DR even if it's worse than /Adamantine. Without some kind of in, the first two types of Deathbath armors are available for the princely somes of 15-25k and the two better grades will usually start at nothing less than ten times the price.
The given difficulty is to produce without one of the wondrous production facilities that make the production of the Deadbath fluids an easy enough exercise for a small team of barely skilled workers and a knowledgeable overseer.
There were plenty of other ways to create life, but the Forge is considered the best for a simple reason. It is possible, but extremely slow, to create a new living being using nothing but the Forge itself. This knocks 10 off the DC of creating a template, but also starts at the equivalent of six hundred thousand of GP of crafting for a single human and goes up real fast for anything more exotic than a human or dog. Designing a template with which to use Biomantic devices and reproductive materials to 'fill out' starts at DC 15 for a humanioid or animal hit die base or 25 for monsterous hit die base and others starting at 30. Exceptional abilities add +5 to the DC for every two, Spell Like ones add +10 per, and Supernatural abilties add +15. Additional Hit Dice add on a one to one basis to the DC. Of course, the real work is getting everything else needed.
Comfort Devices are a number of small things that just aid living a comfortable life. Creating a set or properly calibrating one takes a DC 15 Hypertech roll and genreally raises the quality of one's lodgings by one level. Because they typically take a few dozen gold to create and are fragile, even those that can make them tend to just rely on putting them in a fixed structure instead of carrying around some in a large wagon or the like.
Tireless Electronic Vehicles are generally considered the low end of Hypertech Vehicles, but only because the effort of making one is so great that most factories capable of producing one would rather make a hoverbike or small space cruiser. They still have plenty of upsides, usually being able to carry six to eight people, being able to travel almost a thousand miles in a day on land, being relatively silent, and being comfortable even when old and beaten up. There are more specialized builds possible, but regardless a Tireless Electronic Vehicle tends to be a steep investment nearing a million gold as a normally custom work.
Regional Feats: These feats are usually found in rare people born in a given realm, but also occur because long time residents can adapt just as well or be lucky enough to be in the right place to receive the kinds of boons some of these feats represent. But unless one of these feats says otherwise, only one on a person.
Vocational Training - Choose a skill that is not currently a class skill. It becomes a class skill for you from here on, and you gain an additional skill point in it every level which can't break the cap. This feat can only be taken at a first level, either overall or of a specific class.
Tremendous Life Force - Some say that failure is just a chance to learn, and you’ve certainly taken that deeply to heart. If you fail an action on which you used any of your Action Points, then the very next time you retry the same action you may use the same number of Action Points in the same way for free. It is said that this quality comes from one’s life essence.
Celebutante - Electron Alley has its nobility and its imitators of that nobility. It also has television. The two have combined to produce a series of people famous for being famous. A person with this feat has learned how to (mostly) take advantage of their fame for being famous. Spend an action point and make a special social skill action taking one full round. The number on the die determines how friendly they are for purposes of how they react to this special action, but this won't cause what would have been a successful action to fail if it produces a worse attitude. A face showing less than 10 results in Unfriendly, higher than 10 results in Friendly, and a 10 in Indifferent.
The interacted with character regains their original attitude a round (or two if it was Indifferent or better) afterwards regardless of skills used, unless you spend another Action Point to keep the altered attitude for the same amount of time.
Tremendous Life Force - Some say that failure is just a chance to learn, and you’ve certainly taken that deeply to heart. If you fail an action on which you used any of your Action Points, then the very next time you retry the same action you may use the same number of Action Points in the same way for free. It is said that this quality comes from one’s life essence.
Celebutante - Electron Alley has its nobility and its imitators of that nobility. It also has television. The two have combined to produce a series of people famous for being famous. A person with this feat has learned how to (mostly) take advantage of their fame for being famous. Spend an action point and make a special social skill action taking one full round. The number on the die determines how friendly they are for purposes of how they react to this special action, but this won't cause what would have been a successful action to fail if it produces a worse attitude. A face showing less than 10 results in Unfriendly, higher than 10 results in Friendly, and a 10 in Indifferent.
The interacted with character regains their original attitude a round (or two if it was Indifferent or better) afterwards regardless of skills used, unless you spend another Action Point to keep the altered attitude for the same amount of time.
Biomantic Decay - This Metamagic Feat is considered by some to be the predecessor of the Fell Drain metamagic, and its opposite by those scholars that disagree. A Biomantic Drain spell takes up a slot one level higher, and inflicts a negative level on the target if the spell does at least two of the target's hit dice worth of damage or if they fail a Fort Save for a non-damaging spell. The negative level lasts for (Caster Level/2) hours, fading without a fortitude save, and does not kill until a target has at least one more negative levels than hit dice. If the target dies while suffering from Biomantic Drain, instead of becoming a wraith or corpse, it becomes a puddle of Biomantic Ooze which can be substituted for materials or foci for Biomantic spells. Each Racial Hit Die is worth 200 GP, and each level 100 GP. A Biomantic Drain spell has no effect on immaterial undead, constructs that are purely mechanical, and other such beings without any biology to transmute.
Tattoo/Scar Ward - Blood and Life are the oldest powers in Balethos, and some have married the two into a frightening kind of protection. A special pattern is made in bleeding scar work or yellow ink that calls on dead gods to protect the bearer as they lose life essence. The bearer gains a bonus to AC, Saving Throws, and to Resist special actions equal to (1+three times the current amount of negative levels). In Balethos this is an untyped bonus, elsewhere it is profane or sacred as is appropriate to alignment (choose one for neutral). Finally, a character with this feat may make a Fortitude Save DC (7+Current Negative Levels+1 per Excess Negative Level) when they should die from Negative Levels. If the result is at least 15 over the DC then the character acts as though Staggered instead of being Dead. If it is 10 over, then the character acts as though Nauseated. Any less and the character is treated as Dying. The condition can not be cleared until the negative levels fade or are cured. Excess Negative Levels in the formula means ones in excess of a character's hit dice.
Tattoo/Scar Ward - Blood and Life are the oldest powers in Balethos, and some have married the two into a frightening kind of protection. A special pattern is made in bleeding scar work or yellow ink that calls on dead gods to protect the bearer as they lose life essence. The bearer gains a bonus to AC, Saving Throws, and to Resist special actions equal to (1+three times the current amount of negative levels). In Balethos this is an untyped bonus, elsewhere it is profane or sacred as is appropriate to alignment (choose one for neutral). Finally, a character with this feat may make a Fortitude Save DC (7+Current Negative Levels+1 per Excess Negative Level) when they should die from Negative Levels. If the result is at least 15 over the DC then the character acts as though Staggered instead of being Dead. If it is 10 over, then the character acts as though Nauseated. Any less and the character is treated as Dying. The condition can not be cleared until the negative levels fade or are cured. Excess Negative Levels in the formula means ones in excess of a character's hit dice.
Old Soldier - Choose a Teamwork, Marriage, or Tactical Feat, or Aid. If you chose a Teamwork or Marriage Feat that you possess, then you may count yourself as an ally for the purpose of that feat, but can only gain one bonus from it; if it’s a Tactical Feat then you may choose an ally to benefit from a maneuver that you are using. If you chose a feat that you don’t have then you are considered to have the feat only for the purposes of enabling it for another, including taking the same kinds of action to keep a Tactical Feat’s maneuvers going.
If you chose Aid then you gain two benefits. When aiding an Individual Event you reduce the penalty by 1 or 3 respective to the instances and increase the bonuses by 1 or 2 similarly. When doing Aid Another reduce the result amount needed to get a higher result by two (meaning that you get get an additional +1 for every 8 points of result over 10) and with each multiple of ten less skilled (4 ranks or less) helpers you command the amount goes down a further two to a minimum of 5. This applies to the non skill uses of Aid Another.
The Four Coins - Nova Romaly has become a place that gains almost as much money from prostitution as from conquest and that has lead to a degree of protectiveness for the upper end of this class. By training, tradition, or luck you are seen as one that is or will soon be at the level of skill and fame needed to charge four coins merely to make an appearance. In most places the only benefit is that you may use any of Perform (Sexual), Profession (Prostitute), and Profession (Lawyer) as the others because learning the ins and outs of all three is paramount to actually reaching the status of a Four Coin Prostitute.
In Nova Romaly proper there are two additional benefits. First, as long as the judge is an Economic judge, your Profession (Lawyer) results are treated as 4 higher. Second, by making an opposed Bluff or Diplomacy roll you can get a tortured or mostly correct, respectively, line of argument accepted and the crime judged as a matter of prostitution law. There are only four crimes that can’t really be covered by this, murder, improper prostitution, blasphemy, and crossdressing. The first two are considered matters of public order, and would take an almost literal act of the gods to change. Because Dionysus and Athena still exert great control over Nova Romaly this means that as a practical matter it is only them and their favored divine servants that have their statues, temples, and holidays regularly covered by blasphemy. Which leads into the fourth unredirectable crime, crossdressing. Although on the books as a crime, crossdressing is nigh impossible to be charged with except as a form of social or political cover for other things. Most commonly, the priests of a god on the outs with Athena and Dionysus will find that when soldiers come to arrest a vandal, the soldiers will swear up and down that the criminal was arrested for crossdressing and nothing else. The next most common situation is a high ranking family paying to have a criminal charge settled, but still wishing to give some punishment to the errant member as the results of trials and judgments are a matter of public record.
If you chose Aid then you gain two benefits. When aiding an Individual Event you reduce the penalty by 1 or 3 respective to the instances and increase the bonuses by 1 or 2 similarly. When doing Aid Another reduce the result amount needed to get a higher result by two (meaning that you get get an additional +1 for every 8 points of result over 10) and with each multiple of ten less skilled (4 ranks or less) helpers you command the amount goes down a further two to a minimum of 5. This applies to the non skill uses of Aid Another.
The Four Coins - Nova Romaly has become a place that gains almost as much money from prostitution as from conquest and that has lead to a degree of protectiveness for the upper end of this class. By training, tradition, or luck you are seen as one that is or will soon be at the level of skill and fame needed to charge four coins merely to make an appearance. In most places the only benefit is that you may use any of Perform (Sexual), Profession (Prostitute), and Profession (Lawyer) as the others because learning the ins and outs of all three is paramount to actually reaching the status of a Four Coin Prostitute.
In Nova Romaly proper there are two additional benefits. First, as long as the judge is an Economic judge, your Profession (Lawyer) results are treated as 4 higher. Second, by making an opposed Bluff or Diplomacy roll you can get a tortured or mostly correct, respectively, line of argument accepted and the crime judged as a matter of prostitution law. There are only four crimes that can’t really be covered by this, murder, improper prostitution, blasphemy, and crossdressing. The first two are considered matters of public order, and would take an almost literal act of the gods to change. Because Dionysus and Athena still exert great control over Nova Romaly this means that as a practical matter it is only them and their favored divine servants that have their statues, temples, and holidays regularly covered by blasphemy. Which leads into the fourth unredirectable crime, crossdressing. Although on the books as a crime, crossdressing is nigh impossible to be charged with except as a form of social or political cover for other things. Most commonly, the priests of a god on the outs with Athena and Dionysus will find that when soldiers come to arrest a vandal, the soldiers will swear up and down that the criminal was arrested for crossdressing and nothing else. The next most common situation is a high ranking family paying to have a criminal charge settled, but still wishing to give some punishment to the errant member as the results of trials and judgments are a matter of public record.
In Roads - You have an ‘in’ with one of the more connected gangs, black marketeers, or corporate ‘rebels’ as a good ball player, so to speak. Your credits are good and the stuff they get you is better. Choose a category of good or service which can be, at most, as broad as one handed guns or fashionable hypertech clothes. The purchase limit for that category of goods is one size higher anywhere that the Fallen City’s black market reaches. In addition, you can typically flop at one of their dens for about half the normal rate and don’t have to worry about getting the worst of their slightly off-brand goods if you weren’t paying those fire sale rates. Finally, you also get about ten percent more when selling non-trade goods and can even get some ‘branded’ goods at no additional price if you are buying from one of their larger locations.
Absolutely Will Not - You’ve lived life like an action movie for so long that you’ve even managed to get some of the tricks of the silver screen to work for you. Specifically, you don’t always stay down like you should. When dying or unconscious, you can spend Action Points to roll as many dice as you would when you enhance a roll. The total rolled becomes healing that you may apply beginning next turn and as desired over later turns up to a limit of requiring all the healing to be assigned before the beginning of the next hour. No more than 4 Action Points can be spent on this feat, and thus you can’t heal more than four times the number of dice that you would add to a roll. This healing doesn’t automatically stabilize you until it brings you to 0 HP.
Absolutely Will Not - You’ve lived life like an action movie for so long that you’ve even managed to get some of the tricks of the silver screen to work for you. Specifically, you don’t always stay down like you should. When dying or unconscious, you can spend Action Points to roll as many dice as you would when you enhance a roll. The total rolled becomes healing that you may apply beginning next turn and as desired over later turns up to a limit of requiring all the healing to be assigned before the beginning of the next hour. No more than 4 Action Points can be spent on this feat, and thus you can’t heal more than four times the number of dice that you would add to a roll. This healing doesn’t automatically stabilize you until it brings you to 0 HP.
Threads of Fate(?) - Once, when Zeus Moiregartes was the only divinity of Nova Romaly, he raised up two promising priests. When Zeus fell, the two sought to avoid his fate, and searched hidden places in the Ivy Road. They found an Exotic Shard, and saw visions of another reality that the Creators knew of. Dionysus didn’t keep much track of his half of the power of those visions, and has regularly gambled bits of it away, thus leading to the potential for people that have never been in the Great Casino to have this feat. This feat grants the Aberrant Dragonmark feat even if you don’t meet the prerequisites, allowing for all the uses of a Dragonmark and improvement of the mark even if the character would not normally qualify to take the later Feats. It also may be taken with another Regional Feat.
Scarlet King/Queen - For many years, the plant now known as the Crimson Field Flower had a different name and was of little importance outside Nova Romaly. Then the Dwarf Kings and Queen of now lost Sagalton who discovered that in addition to its virtues as an excellent contraceptive and adequate abortifacient, it was extremely sweet to dwarven palettes. This lead to two discoveries. One, a sufficiently large dose of the flower’s extracts will turn sweat (and other fluids) a light red. Two, with just a little more of the extract, it becomes a dangerous purgative. A person with this feat has sampled enough of the drinks and sweets favored by those ancient kings and queens often enough that they respond to poisons, drugs, and diseases in a manner very similar, but less potent, than that of a purgative dose. For poisons and drugs, upon failing a Saving Throw to resist the substance the character may choose to turn the damage or drain taken into Ability Burn and then be cured of the poison or drug. If the initial failure doesn’t do damage, then the character takes Burn based on the secondary damage. If neither causes damage, then the Burn is a mere 1d4 to the player’s choice. Diseases are far harder to fight off in this way. The Feat can only be used after the first instance of damage, and it can’t be used two times in a row against supernatural diseases unless the rules for recovery are also altered. As examples, this makes it rather useless against Mummy Rot which doesn’t recover based on successful Saving Throws and because Devil Chills take three successful rolls in a row to shake off then the Feat can be used twice in a row against Devil Chills. This adjustment isn’t to be used in reverse to make it impossible to use the Feat against a supernatural disease.
Scarlet King/Queen - For many years, the plant now known as the Crimson Field Flower had a different name and was of little importance outside Nova Romaly. Then the Dwarf Kings and Queen of now lost Sagalton who discovered that in addition to its virtues as an excellent contraceptive and adequate abortifacient, it was extremely sweet to dwarven palettes. This lead to two discoveries. One, a sufficiently large dose of the flower’s extracts will turn sweat (and other fluids) a light red. Two, with just a little more of the extract, it becomes a dangerous purgative. A person with this feat has sampled enough of the drinks and sweets favored by those ancient kings and queens often enough that they respond to poisons, drugs, and diseases in a manner very similar, but less potent, than that of a purgative dose. For poisons and drugs, upon failing a Saving Throw to resist the substance the character may choose to turn the damage or drain taken into Ability Burn and then be cured of the poison or drug. If the initial failure doesn’t do damage, then the character takes Burn based on the secondary damage. If neither causes damage, then the Burn is a mere 1d4 to the player’s choice. Diseases are far harder to fight off in this way. The Feat can only be used after the first instance of damage, and it can’t be used two times in a row against supernatural diseases unless the rules for recovery are also altered. As examples, this makes it rather useless against Mummy Rot which doesn’t recover based on successful Saving Throws and because Devil Chills take three successful rolls in a row to shake off then the Feat can be used twice in a row against Devil Chills. This adjustment isn’t to be used in reverse to make it impossible to use the Feat against a supernatural disease.
Threads of Fate - When the two new gods of Nova Romaly studied the things they found in that Exotic Shard for a long year, and one’s passion for the project grew much as the other’s faded. Athena now feels that Dionysus’s later abandonment of the project, were it to have happened two years later, would have been the ideal timing for both to have given up. Still, while it didn’t give either of them the levers upon fate that they were wishing for, Athena has kept somewhat better control on the things she took. Unfortunately for the gods, this is not a genie that can be stoppered up once more or perfectly commanded, so the True Dragonmarks are found in place in the Temple Technological that Athena does not wish them. This feat grants Least Dragonmark even if the character would not normally qualify for it, allows for other uses of a Dragonmark, and allows for taking later feats in the chain even if the character would not normally qualify. This may be taken with another Regional Feat, but usually only the one from the Temple Technological.
Certificate of Hypertech - If only because the needed number of technicians is greater than the numbers of well behaved and loyal citizens of the Temple Technological, knowledge of how to best teach Hypertech to others had to disseminate to others. But in the Temple Technological you need a bit more than good knowledge to be said to really know your way around Hypertech. In addition to gaining Hypertech as a class skill, you have some form of Super Tool, which is a wonderful bit of Hypertech that serves as an near omni-applicable Masterwork Tool (for other skills) and an even better but focused one for Hypertech. Focusing the Super Tool for a purpose requires a DC 20 Hypertech roll that takes three rounds and may be retried twice per day. If focused on the production or planning of a single bit of Hypertech instead of the normal +2 bonus it gives a +5.
Certificate of Hypertech - If only because the needed number of technicians is greater than the numbers of well behaved and loyal citizens of the Temple Technological, knowledge of how to best teach Hypertech to others had to disseminate to others. But in the Temple Technological you need a bit more than good knowledge to be said to really know your way around Hypertech. In addition to gaining Hypertech as a class skill, you have some form of Super Tool, which is a wonderful bit of Hypertech that serves as an near omni-applicable Masterwork Tool (for other skills) and an even better but focused one for Hypertech. Focusing the Super Tool for a purpose requires a DC 20 Hypertech roll that takes three rounds and may be retried twice per day. If focused on the production or planning of a single bit of Hypertech instead of the normal +2 bonus it gives a +5.
JarlWorth - Choose a Teamwork, Marriage, or Item Creation Feat. In the case of a Teamwork feat, if you have the feat then you may count yourself as an ally for the purposes of the feat, but only gain one possible bonus. If you don’t have the feat selected, then you are considered to have it but only for the purposes of letting another benefit from the feat. If you choose an Item Creation feat, then you are considered to have a caster level equal to your character level for most purposes, but need supply the uses of any other spell or spells needed if a creation requires it.
Waxed - Some people do fashion as a deliberate thing. Your attention to cleanliness and presentability mean that you can not only appear impressive deliberately but sometimes just incidentally as inspiration from the Grim One strikes. As long as you are not completely prevented from following your cleanliness routine, you can treat every week (or day) as working towards a Striking Look that counts as and is priced as a Masterwork Tool for a Cha based skill. You need not buy raw materials for this as long as you are only preparing it for yourself. Others need to pony up the money to get on to your kind of regime. In both cases, you may treat yourself as having a Craft modifier of +15 for purposes of this look, and it takes no appreciable extra time on the long scale. A given Striking Look lasts for a day once donned and need not be used immediately upon being crafted as it is an abstraction of casual intent. And despite having neither weight nor dimensions, a given creature can’t store or use more than three Looks at any given time.
Waxed - Some people do fashion as a deliberate thing. Your attention to cleanliness and presentability mean that you can not only appear impressive deliberately but sometimes just incidentally as inspiration from the Grim One strikes. As long as you are not completely prevented from following your cleanliness routine, you can treat every week (or day) as working towards a Striking Look that counts as and is priced as a Masterwork Tool for a Cha based skill. You need not buy raw materials for this as long as you are only preparing it for yourself. Others need to pony up the money to get on to your kind of regime. In both cases, you may treat yourself as having a Craft modifier of +15 for purposes of this look, and it takes no appreciable extra time on the long scale. A given Striking Look lasts for a day once donned and need not be used immediately upon being crafted as it is an abstraction of casual intent. And despite having neither weight nor dimensions, a given creature can’t store or use more than three Looks at any given time.
New, Flashy, not Chintzy - There’s a few billion new, flashy, and useless things out there. You have lucked out and gotten something new, flashy, and useful. You know, when you can actually get it to work. Choose a tool you have. By spending an Action Point you may change the bonus it gives to the result of the best dice. This goes back to normal by one point every scene it’s used in. That there are old examples of these kinds of devices is a bit of a trout-in-the-milk problem for anyone that cares.
Shard-tech - Before Hypertech was a formal field, the forgotten gods of Iti and Na drove their society to produce Shard-tech which was similar in many ways but not one very important one. Shard-tech took large amounts of life force to power. The weapon or armor you’ve gotten from this feat is not necessarily an exotic looking or performing example, at least not to start. If you happen to find a spare Power shard or extremely strong shard of another type, then the thing roars back to a level of might beyond the best works of mortals and many gods. However, anyone can do that if they can find and recognize such works. This feat means that you have also found a (perhaps the for some rare creations) way to sacrifice the works of mortals and men and some of your life force and much time to slowly awaken it to more and more power.
Shard-tech - Before Hypertech was a formal field, the forgotten gods of Iti and Na drove their society to produce Shard-tech which was similar in many ways but not one very important one. Shard-tech took large amounts of life force to power. The weapon or armor you’ve gotten from this feat is not necessarily an exotic looking or performing example, at least not to start. If you happen to find a spare Power shard or extremely strong shard of another type, then the thing roars back to a level of might beyond the best works of mortals and many gods. However, anyone can do that if they can find and recognize such works. This feat means that you have also found a (perhaps the for some rare creations) way to sacrifice the works of mortals and men and some of your life force and much time to slowly awaken it to more and more power.
Essential Core - Most commonly found in old type machines but technically available for Mechs and Cyborgs, this is ultimately a crude work around to try and bring older styles of artificial beings closer to Lord Moloch’s desired designs that can incidentally benefit newer designs. For a Construct without a CON score, this gives a storage reservoir for Essentia equal to ils HP bonus for size and allows the relatively fixed installation of pieces of cyberware equal to half it’s Hit Dice. It can be filled by putting temporary Essentia into it, or another donating some Essentia by leaving it there for a full day. Any taken out is extremely temporary and only lasts for a turn. For those that can take this and have a CON score, this is a bit less impressive. It can store ECL/3 Essentia which can be assigned from the reserve at the usual limits to boost the saving throw DC of anything the character has that can hold Essentia on a one to one basis. It can be filled only by outside or temporary sources of Essentia and the stored Essentia dissipates the turn after being used. This can only be taken at first level or with the aid of a High Priest of Moloch.
Integrationist Body (Blank) - A nice side benefit that came from the decision to spend resources on updating some pre-Moloch era designs to ones that better fit Moloch’s plans. Once, changing installed cybernetics involved days to weeks of constant work or the use of the then extremely rare Becoming Creches. The ability to change implants on, essentially, the human sleep schedule plus a little had only one precursor that was deemed worth carrying over in any, the ability to quickly and easily integrate foreign material… at least compared to before. The main benefit of this feat is that it may ‘filled’ by an attached warforged component or warforged feat if the character has the component, a similar base, or amounts of the proper material in the case of Body and Tracery warforged feats. They also may take Integration Slot Feats sooner than normal. This feat can only be taken at first level, and is a regional feat for non-Mechs (warforged).
Integrationist Body (Blank) - A nice side benefit that came from the decision to spend resources on updating some pre-Moloch era designs to ones that better fit Moloch’s plans. Once, changing installed cybernetics involved days to weeks of constant work or the use of the then extremely rare Becoming Creches. The ability to change implants on, essentially, the human sleep schedule plus a little had only one precursor that was deemed worth carrying over in any, the ability to quickly and easily integrate foreign material… at least compared to before. The main benefit of this feat is that it may ‘filled’ by an attached warforged component or warforged feat if the character has the component, a similar base, or amounts of the proper material in the case of Body and Tracery warforged feats. They also may take Integration Slot Feats sooner than normal. This feat can only be taken at first level, and is a regional feat for non-Mechs (warforged).
A Region Free Regional Feat, despite the oxymoronic name, represents a few things that the nature of the world, divinities, and age mean occur but rarely in all places. Even minor realms.
Exotic Shard - The process by which divine powers leave behind shards when slain or forced to abandon divinity is poorly understood, as is the mechanic by which they leave behind new, lesser shards. What is known is that several echo with things that once existed but are now lost or that never were and these are called Exotic Shards. This feat allows one to take specific substitution levels that would not be available due to lack of the god, have class levels that your alignment may not support, and other similar bends and breaks in the rules. Run this by me in thread before taking.
Fade Touched - Few are touched by the Fade and then recovered. This rare; infection is usually lethal or leads to becoming one of the destruction obsessed Faded. Coming out the other side sane and existant has left one mark, though. You may Smite Existent with a ranged or melee attack, adding an Ability Bonus of your choice to the attack roll and your ECL in bonus damage. If the target is Faded, then the damage bonus becomes ECL in d6s. This can be done once per day, plus one additional time per three levels or hit dice you have.
Glow Touched - Many are touched by the Feral Glow and recover without incident. You have managed to recover and gain power from it. Choose Hunt, Fuck, or Consume, and present an appropriate goad; you can then make an Opposed Charisma Check as a Full Round Action. If you succeed, then the target will attempt to do as you chose to the goad for two rounds, plus one for every five points by which your check succeeded, maximum of five rounds if possible. Typical goads for each choice are calling attention to bared flesh or a smaller prey animal (hunt), an active or passive provocative display (fuck), and food alive or dead (consume), although it’s definitely possible to do other goads. Constructs with no CON are usually immune to non Hunt uses of this feat unless infected with the Feral Glow or designed with such other acts in mind. Targets infected with the Feral Glow give you half your ECL as a circumstance bonus. Targets with the Feral template also take an equal penalty and if goaded with their subtype, do not have a maximum number of rounds they will take the action for a single use.
Exotic Shard - The process by which divine powers leave behind shards when slain or forced to abandon divinity is poorly understood, as is the mechanic by which they leave behind new, lesser shards. What is known is that several echo with things that once existed but are now lost or that never were and these are called Exotic Shards. This feat allows one to take specific substitution levels that would not be available due to lack of the god, have class levels that your alignment may not support, and other similar bends and breaks in the rules. Run this by me in thread before taking.
Fade Touched - Few are touched by the Fade and then recovered. This rare; infection is usually lethal or leads to becoming one of the destruction obsessed Faded. Coming out the other side sane and existant has left one mark, though. You may Smite Existent with a ranged or melee attack, adding an Ability Bonus of your choice to the attack roll and your ECL in bonus damage. If the target is Faded, then the damage bonus becomes ECL in d6s. This can be done once per day, plus one additional time per three levels or hit dice you have.
Glow Touched - Many are touched by the Feral Glow and recover without incident. You have managed to recover and gain power from it. Choose Hunt, Fuck, or Consume, and present an appropriate goad; you can then make an Opposed Charisma Check as a Full Round Action. If you succeed, then the target will attempt to do as you chose to the goad for two rounds, plus one for every five points by which your check succeeded, maximum of five rounds if possible. Typical goads for each choice are calling attention to bared flesh or a smaller prey animal (hunt), an active or passive provocative display (fuck), and food alive or dead (consume), although it’s definitely possible to do other goads. Constructs with no CON are usually immune to non Hunt uses of this feat unless infected with the Feral Glow or designed with such other acts in mind. Targets infected with the Feral Glow give you half your ECL as a circumstance bonus. Targets with the Feral template also take an equal penalty and if goaded with their subtype, do not have a maximum number of rounds they will take the action for a single use.
Feat - Repulsive Curse - Magic lies heavy in many of the older lands, and you’ve learned how to make others feel this. Once per day (plus one additional time per three levels you have) you may choose to take a special demoralize action that inflicts a different result instead of shaken. By default undead and constructs are Blown Away in a direction of the user’s choice and other targets are Stunned. Spending an Action point makes all creatures Blown Away and undead and constructs take lethal damage instead of non-lethal. This can be gained only by finding and studying De Verbis Misteriis.
Domains - The (inaccurately labeled) five greatest of the gods each have two domains that are basically only normally available to their clerics. This is that list.
Dionysus - Luck, Madness
Athena - Artifice, Inquisition
Odin - Deathless, Destiny
Moloch - City, Incarnum (called Machine Core)
WuguShen - Plant, Nobility
Kali - Exorcism, Pact
Biomancy and You - Quick Reference to Biomancy spells. They are a select number of necromancy, enchantment, and transmutation spells that manipulate biology, especially that of humanoids. Trained Biomancers treat some additional spells of those schools as Biomancy, including their healing spells. Despite the attempts of the heirs of Jal Thalun to keep these arts secret, many have escaped into the world. Only their healing spells are totally safe within the ranks of Biomancy schools, as they require enough specialzied training that anyone that could steal those spells would already be a fully trained Biomancer. The exact arts by which Jal Thalun and his offspring created new life are useless to most (they require the Forge of Life and lots of Biomantic supplies), but still known. Most probably dream of being powerful enough to cast a Crossbreeding spell rather than seeking out the Forge and how to use it, but must suffice with hiring a trained sage.