The Gods Themselves

"Against stupidity, the gods themselves contend in vain." --Schiller

Setting Changes

Most of this is still being thought about and refined in my head, so any comments, suggestions or criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Firstly and perhaps most importantly, the game is set before the Empress' disappearance. The Realm is still big and scary and the Wyld hunt routinely makes life difficult for Anaethema. The Lunars are a loosely knit community in the Periphery and are united enough that the Wyld hunt has to think twice before venturing that far without serious support, but one way in which the Lunars prevent such things happening is handing over Solars that the Realm is aware of before they have reason enough for a big campaign. The Wyld hunt does hunt Lunars if they encroach on the territory of the Realm, but as long as they stay in the Periphery they are left in peace. Oh, and there are no Solars other than the PCs (well maybe one or two, but no more than that).

There are hardly any Wyld areas within Creation, and very few Shadowlands. Shadowlands are a lot more scary (see below).

Lookshy is a protectorate of the Realm. In exchange for minimal taxes the DBs in lookshy are granted freedom from most of the political infighting and only loosely adhere to the Immaculate philosophy. Most DB players will come from Lookshy (it helps avoid the "Anaethema - Kill!" response. Of course, with a good backstory a DB can come from anywhere. Reasoning for this: The Realm has more than enough force to take Lookshy if it wanted to, but doesn't need to when there are other problems facing them. The Lunars in this setting are a much more organised force than in canon and the Realm really wants to focus it's efforts against them, so they charge absolutely minimal taxes and lookshy becomes a haven for criminal DBs and the like. It means the Realm can find them if it needs to, and if it doesn't then they are someone else's problem.

With the Empress at the reins, the Realm is a powerhouse of productivity and scary military might. When she goes missing it all falls to bits, but that hasn't happened yet (and may not) so the Realm is truly scary. If the Realm puts all it's military force together the world trembles.

The Lunars are highly territorial with most holding areas of land or working with another who holds the land. If more than one Lunar is present there is always one clear leader. Young Lunars often wander for a time before settling down in one area, and some choose never to settle down, but they are in the minority. Challenges between Lunars are common but rarely to the Death, the loser simply gives up some territory or loses a lot of face and owes boons to the victor. In time of great need the Lunars work together and - along with their beastmen - can make fearsome foes.

No-moons are encouraged to learn Celestial Circle Sorcery. Other Lunars are taught Terrestrial if they petition a No-moon and perform some service, but to learn Celestial would require an awful lot of work.

The Lunars are generally happy to help one another out, for example by teaching each other charms. They have a system of honour, and if someone teaches you a charm then you owe them a boon, and such boons are the nearest thing to a currency the Lunars have. If there is something you want done, you call in the people who owe you favours. The mentor background - in part - represents boons you are owed for a Lunar.

First age Lunars are scary. Most control large areas of land and large armies (e.g. Ma-Ha-Suchi). A few choose instead to wander interminably (like Lillith) and are generally made welcome wherever they go.

Every Lunar is chosen by Luna. For the most part this means that every Lunar is exalted with a fairly specific goal in mind, even if that goal is just "protect this area". it also means that it is very rare for an unbalanced or insane person to become exalted. A few Lunars go mad through excess Wyld exposure but such Lunars are quickly hunted down and put out of their misery.

The Lunars protect the Periphery from the Wyld. Any large incursions are dealt with by the Lunars and any Wyld areas that spring up are removed by the Lunars (high level Lunar charms can actually push back the Wyld for months at a time). This is why there are a lot less Wyld areas than in canon.

The Sidereals are carefully hidden, mainly within the Realm. Until the book comes out there is little more I can say about the Sidereals, except that they conform to canon as far as I know. With the Jade prison not yet broken, there are no Solars for them to play with, so they play with DBs and occasional Lunars.

You know up in general changes where I said possibly the biggest change would be the timing, and the presence of the Empress? Well, I probably lied. I intend to have at most one Deathlord (one that the players can meet anyway - I'd guess they killed each other off or something), and no Abyssals. Or at least none to start with. There will probably be none after the prison is broken (the chronicle will involve the players breaking open the prison at some point) but the good news for Abyssal fans is that Solar essences will not be individually placed like the Lunar ones are. Anyone who excels at something the Solars are good at can be chosen to become a Solar Exalted, so there are good and bad Solars, and bad Solars who renounce their names can become Abyssals.

I'll probably do away with the Monstrance things, I see no real need for them with Abyssals being so rare (non-existant until the prison is broken open) and there being only one Deathlord.

Shadowlands are a lot more scary. It is the nature of the underworld to take and not give, and so shall it be with Shadowlands. If you enter a Shadowland during the day and leave again before nightfall, you are ok. If you do not get out before nightfall or if you enter a shadowland during the night you are dumped into the Underworld and cannot get back out through a Shadowland. I'm not sure how you would get back out, but it would not be fun finding out. Also, the Underworld would be a very bad place, lots of hungry ghosts and barghests and that sort of thing. No-one who has gone into a shadowland and not returned by nightfall has ever returned.

With the Wyld a lot more tamed, the Fae are not that much of a problem unless you go into the Wyld. There are still some Fae in creation, and most of the details of the Fae are completely unchanged from canon.

Solar essences are not as closely marshalled as Lunar essences so can go to very bad people as well as very good people. Until the Jade prison is broken, there are very few Solars in creation and Solars have very little effect on the rest of the setting as a result.