The concept/setting is this sort of wasteland-ish desert and dry flat grasslands type of place. There was this ancient race of people, they died and left many of their things. There are people that live in tribes, basically, scattered about the desert. There is one massive central city (think New York) called the Hub. That's the real simple run down of it.
What I have currently are the four player tribes, that are used only for character concept. It has not effect statistically on gameplay.
What I'm interested in is just simple feed-back; What do you think? Does it seem interesting or something you'd want to play? I'll post more once I get it done (like the religions, the food, culture, an entire set of custom weapons, etc.) Feel free to ask any questions that come to mind, too.
Desert Blue
Tribes
Northerners
Northerners (People of the North; Tribals; Brutes) are well known for their abilities in combat, their skill in hunting and tracking, their strong, spiritual habits and their barbaric nature. Their few stationary villages have given the other peoples of the land enough to both respect and fear them.
Personality: Northerners are suspicious of strangers, tend to not laugh but they are kind and loving to those that earn their trust. They hold high values such as honesty, hard work, and the ability to fight. They tend to be fond of drink and meat. Their sense of morality is strong, and any who lie or cheat them will soon know the cold fingers of death. They do trade, but rarely, finding it unneeded for the most part as they are a very self-sufficient people.
Relations: They are given an unfair wrap as barbaric louts that hunt down trade caravans or simply venture in to the deserts and closest towns to simply ransack and destroy but they do not, unless provoked. They find themselves uneasy among too many innovations and thus, spend time amongst themselves. They are welcoming, but keep all strangers at an arms length and take their words with a grain of salt. No other tribe in specific has called their wrath.
Northerner Lands: They act under the council of a Chieftain. He dictates what the tribe does and for the most part, none dispute his views. Chieftains change only when another member of the tribe rises up and challenges for the rank. This may or may not result in the death of the Chieftain or the challenger. A win does not mean a death, but if the challenger loses, he is dishonored and usually leaves the village, on his own accord. A Chieftain that loses and lives may possibly remain as a guide for the new Chieftain. They prefer to keep their homes to the mountains, or as close to wooded areas as possible. Most, but not all groups are nomadic.
Religion: The chief religion among the Northerners is that of a spiritual nature. They believe that everything has a spirit, every clod of dirt, every rock and tree. Every creature has a spirit. They believe that these spirits all came down from the Above Place and gave themselves to the Earth to give it life, and that that is where we come from. They believe heavily in praying to all the spirits, and hold animals as the highest form of a spirit on Earth. Their priest, or Drum Majin as he or she is called, is a member of the village who is trained or gifted in the art of Spirit Speech, to communicate with the spirits by voice and drum.
Language: They speak the Common Tongue, as well as their own language. This, they never share with outsiders. It is only spoken amongst themselves.
Flatlanders
Flatlanders (People of the Desert, Prairie Trash, Dust Farmers) are the most untrusting of all the tribes. They deal in trade mostly, but find that they do not trust those not of their tribe. Any trade is taken to the other tribe; they keep their homes as heavily guarded as possible. They are a hard working, but cowardly people, resorting to violence sooner then they would peaceful negotiations.
Personality: Flatlanders tend to dress in as inconspicuous a manner as possible. They hold a strong love of family and friends; their communities are tight-nit and it is not uncommon for a neighbor to do a favor for someone without expecting anything in return. They are especially protective of children, keeping them as best guarded from strangers as possible.
Relations: Again, they keep all other tribes far from them, doing trade at meeting grounds or such, never ever allowing a trade caravan from another tribe to their homes. All other tribes are aware of this, though no one is certain if this is an actual threat or not. No one has bothered to check.
Flatlanders Lands: A couple runs them; male and female, that happen to be the eldest in the camp. Should the eldest be too old or crippled or suffer in some manner to cause them to be unfit for leadership, the eldest beneath them will lead. They keep their homes on flat, dry lands. Parched earth and dried up lakes tends to be their home. Their claim is that this allows to see people from a distance and to prepare. Ironically, much of their trade is in water.
Religion: Flatlanders either follow no religion or they follow the House of Jevs. This is a communal thing. There are no communities split between those that are atheist or agnostic and those that follow the House of Jevs. One village - one religion.
Language: The Common Tongue.
Hublanders
The Hublanders (Hubber, Desert Mutt) are the most common in the wastes and deserts. They are at home in any real environment. Hublanders live out on the flat plains, in the mountains or forests of the Blue. They are the common man; they fill the roles of all, they are your doctor, your farmer, your trader, your guard, your sheriff, your friend and your enemy.
Personality: It is hard to define the Hublander in such a category. They come in all shapes and sizes and have no determined set of ways. They have no defined culture, rather, deciding for them how to face the wastes, or perhaps latching to another tribe.
Relations: Just as readily as they mix with each other, Hublanders mix with other members of the desert, or at least they try. For the most part, Hublanders make up the other members of the desert.
Hublanders Land: The Hublanders live everywhere and anywhere. In villages out in the waste, out on flat plains, in the forests, in the mountains, you name it. They have spread out so far and wide that to be a Hublander really means little anymore. You could have lived in a village, and not realize that your grandfathers grandfather came from The Hub. As such, villages and towns vary in government. The Hub though, Home of the Hublander is ruled by a council of six, that govern exactly what happens in The Hub. Once a Hublander has left The Hub, they no longer fall under Hub law.
Religion: The Hub is as diverse as anything, especially in religion. Some people follow the House of Jevs, other follow the House of the Flame. Some believe in the spirits, some believe in nothing and yet others follow the Ancient Light, which is more of a thought or concept, then a religion.
Language: Common Tongue
Backlanders
Backlanders (Invisible Man/Men, Waste Rats) fill in those missing spots in the desert. They are people that have decided to follow their own path and make their own life. Some start small farms far away from the rest of the desert, and some head for Northerner villages, or some for The Hub. Who are they and where are they from? Some have left other tribes, some have been living for generations like this and can barely remember that far back as to whom they decent from.
Personality: It varies, though it does lean towards the sort of loner type of person. Some of them still prefer the solitude of the wastes, but some have had enough and want interaction. It varies greatly.
Relations: See above.
Backlanders Land: This works on a person-to-person basis much as it does with the Hublanders. Some have farms, some have trade posts. Some have inns to stay at. Its hard to tell.
Religion: Again, hard to tell though they tend to be more so atheist or agnostic. A few follow the Ancient Light belief but not too many.
Language: Common Tongue. Ozimander fucked around with this message on 01-23-2005 at 09:23 PM.
nem-x fucked around with this message on 01-23-2005 at 09:31 PM.
...and Highlanders... the documentary.
When I say opinions, I mean opinions 
It'd say there is already alot for the player to toy with.
I'm interested to see what sort of custom weapons you're thinking about. I'm assuming as far as technology goes, all the tribes are rather primitive, the Hublanders perhaps having things the other tribes would not.
What about housing structures? What sort of styles did you have in mind? Will the northerners have tents and the like, being hunters? How much more advanced would the structures be within The Hub?
Hmm, I'll post more questions as I think of them. I really like what you have so far though.
Flatlander Woman
Why is that?!?!
The housing varies. Some people have tents and mud huts, some make their homes of debris and some of still standing houses. The Flatlanders, again, tend to have nicer homes. The Backlanders also tend to find areas with houses still standing. The Hub is an entire city that has been converted over. It's all re-constructed rubble and such, towering old buildings of stone and glass and steel.
I'll be posting the religion portion and flaura and fauna.
I have a reason in game for the tribals to be from the North. I don't want to reveal it though. TEE HEE!
quote:
Tristan had this to say about Reading Rainbow:
Not to nitpick, but how did the hub grow that big with that sort of tech base?
Zerg tactics?
I don't think I'm getting the right idea over. Imagine a city. Alright, not blow out all the windows and set fires and just sit back and watch. Now you've got this big amount of rubble. Some buildings are still standing, or maybe unaffected. People now live there, living in old burnt out buildings and making their own from rubble. There is still still fuel in some areas, and electricty running certain parts. Weapons are the rarity though, weapons from the Ancients (like pistols and rifles, etc). They are possible to trade for though.
Flatlanders tend to search out these for protection. Their only bargaining chip though is water, which they have a tight grip on.
I might have raised more questions then answered. What I SHOULD have down is write out a history as known by the common man, to let this all settle in but...I didn't. So you can either wait for the history or ask more questions, I'm fine either way.
Ozimander fucked around with this message on 01-24-2005 at 06:15 PM.
EDIT: Something just struck me. The above is fairly valuable info but after re-reading the question, their tech is dependent on anything they found left in the city, ingenuity and sheer man-power. The Hub is sprawling. I mean, think Blade Runner in terms of size of people in the streets, etc. Hope that helps a bit.
quote:
Ozimander had this to say about Robocop:
*stuff*
ok, that makes a lot more sense. I was pictuing a much more intact city that had been built post fall.
Religion
Religion as it stands it done on a person to person basis with the exception of the Flatlanders, who support religion as a community. Things can get lonely in the desert and it helps to know there is someone up there, watching over you. Of course others believe there is no one, because who the Hell would create this kind of a mess?
Athiest/Agnostic While not the same, they fall in to the same group. Most view non-believing and lack of a religion as one in the same. Hell, some people even confuse the two which doesn't help anyone in the end. It's a simple, open and shut case.
Spiritualism Spiritualism is varied, and also not counted as a religion by members of the House of Jevs or the House of Light. Mostly Northerners follow this idealoogy/religion but there are a few Hublanders and Backlanders that follow the concept. Essentially, spirits were in the Above Place, or as some of us call it, the 'sky', they noticed that Blue was all on its own so they came down to the barren rock of a planet and filled with with life, their own. They believe everyone and everything has a spirit and when you die, your spirit ascends to be judged and rewarded or punished appropriately. This may or may not be re-incarnation. Worhship is done in many different ways. The Northerns use only their 'Drum Majin' who drums and chants and sings in a way to allow prayer for the entire village.
The House of Jevs The House of Jevs is based around the teaching of Jevs, the Man Born of Star. As the Book of Jevs is said to say, Jevs was born from a star, which landed to the Blue. Three men were dictated to teach and take care of him. Each man taught one virtue; Truth, Justice, Morality. When he was old enough, Jevs followed the roads to the Hub, where he taught the people. On his way he did many a great thing. He caught a taught the Haverin the meaning of community, and it is because of Jevs that the Haverin lives togethers in tight knit communities. People began to follow him as he did amazing feats, like turning rock and sand in to water, and splitting a mountain in half to allow a safer means of passage for people. The concepts are simple, all being taught my amazing feats. Jevs was drawn and quatered by Raiders, and much of his followers were taken as slaves, but a few escaped, and spread the word. The House of Jevs is a flourishing community, growing out. Its base of operations is in The Hub. Their belief is that the star that Jevs was born of is the creator of this world, Blue, and saw the strife, sending his son down to take care of us. Their belief is also that, the start Jevs was born of was the Sun, which is in fact, a diety, or as the House refers to him, God.
The House of Light A religion that came to light (no pun intended) a little while after the House of Jevs, it is not so much a religion as it is group against the House of Jevs. They preach values of hard work and individualism. Other then that, that actively preach against the House of Jevs. Their belief is that Jevs was not the Son of God, but rather, a liar and a con artist, working towards getting the people to do things under him. They say that under God does exsist, but that he is not the Sun, that he dwells deep within the Blue, watching from within.
quote:You can make a fortress out of rocks/rubble. People used to do it all the time. Well, not so much from rubble, but from rocks. If the flatlanders are big into trade and have a lock on water, they probably managed to acquire a lot of suitable building materials over time.
Tristan is attacking the darkness!
oh, something to consider: Do people know how to make (reinforced) concrete? It may seem like a small point, but if they do, forts/castles/compounds go from "That is adorably breachable", to That is a bunker with slanted, two foot thick walls, and we might have a rifle, if we are lucky
I'm not thrilled with the parallels that can be drawn from the houses of Jevs and Light to modern real-world religions. `Doc fucked around with this message on 01-25-2005 at 08:10 AM.
quote:
`Doc stopped staring at Deedlit long enough to write:
I'm not thrilled with the parallels that can be drawn from the houses of Jevs and Light to modern real-world religions.
Unforunate. Those parallels are intentional for meta-plot related reasons.
