Magic Items in the Artifice Saga

In order to preserve the intended fantasy setting of the Artifice Saga campaign, many elements of its sci-fi inspiration need to be either removed or heavily modified.  While Robotech and its predecessors are anime of the mecha genre, mecha are virtually unknown in the Artifice Saga.  Instead, artifice is the art of crafting permanent magic items:  armor, rings, rods, staves, wands, weapons, and wondrous items.

Consumable magic items--potions and scrolls--are common in all cultures; they can be created using "standard" magical techniques.  It is through the manipulation of ether, the otherworldly matter of the Ethereal Plane, that permanence and even sentience can be applied to magical items.  However, the ability to conjure, contain, and use ether requires exceptional degrees of arcane skill and understanding.

Ether is a stand-in for the Protoculture of the Robotech Universe.

Lunacy & Lycanthropy in Monvesia

Lycanthropes are a staple of fantasy gaming, and not one that I plan on abandoning in Monvesia.  There has not been much cause to explore their place in this world, however.  Recently, I saw fit to reference these creatures while writing about both Dominions and Calendars.  In both cases, lycanthropes are referenced in conjunction with the moon.  Though rarely discussed by common folk, when they are it is always in conjunction with the ailment of lunacy.

Lunacy, a madness related to the full and dark moons, was once thought to be a precursor to the Taint.  Goliath medicine workers have come to rule out a connection between the two ailments.  While taint is most common in Inheritance and human territories, lunacy and lycanthropy are most common in Galtain, the Honderreich, and Cuorria.  It is almost unheard of among elves and goliaths.  That a connection exists between lunacy and lycanthropy is unquestioned:  All lycantropes are affected by lunacy--though not all lunatics are affected by lycanthropy.

Taint is a sociological ailment, while Lunacy is a psychological one.  While goliath medicine can be adapted to lunacy, it is specifically designed to combat taint.

Planes of Monvesia: Liminal Companions

The dichotomy of Faerie and the Abyss was introduced in 4th Edition, when the Feywild was set up as a counterpoint to the Shadowfell (an evolution of the Plane of Shadow).  In Monvesia, this relationship is repeated by making these two planes the Limninal Companions.  As companions, these two planes share a connection to the Lithosphere and the Pyrosphere.

While Faerie is a realm of life and creation, the Abyss is a realm of death and decay.  They are bound by Vaspyron, the dominion of the morning and evening star--dawn and dusk as reflections of these two planes.  Monvesia's mortal inhabitants further bind these transitive planes:  While the elves of Prace (or haltias) retain the race's original connection to Faerie, the elves of Xahaca (or hulders) have abondoned that plane in favor of the darkness of the Abyss.

LegacySPΩRE: Firebird Institute

Firebird Institute & Ember Village

The Firebird Institute was founded in the early 1990s by Dr. Alexandre Bennu in order to continue the legacy of recently retired hero Firebird.  Originally a half-way house for parahuman rehabilitation, it grew over time to include research facilities and its own team of super-beings.  After Dr. Bennu’s death, leadership of the Institute passed to his protege, Dr. Brian Stoker—an open advocate for the Parahuman Homeland Initiative.

SPΩRE: Parahumans

The various SPORE settings share several common elements--though, in many cases, these elements are substantially different than their counterparts in the other "realities."  For example, each setting has a class of people who are more than human, no longer human, or some combination.  They are known by the generic term parahuman.

Parahumans in GaiaSPΩRE

The term parahuman was created in initially for the GaiaSPORE setting.  Here, parahumans are a race of people created during the Century War (another recurring theme) to serve as living weapons.  The various factions of the war each followed the same basic process: animal DNA was spliced with human DNA to create specialized super-soldiers.  Dozens of different animals were used, but only a handful of parahumans proved to be viable enough to produce offspring.