All magicians are logicians

Hyper Incomplete High Concept

All the players are wizards. The setting is modern day. Each wizard has one axiom, of the form All Subject is Predicate or No Subject is Predicate. Subject and Predicate can be anything the player wants. Players can do anything a normal human can. Players can also Conclude and Justify their axioms. Concluding an axiom allows you to enforce the consequences of that axiom. Justifying an axiom allows you to enforce the cause of that axiom. An example: John has the axiom All Cats are Hairless Felines. John, if he encounters a cat (which is, of course, hairless), can Conclude from his axiom that cats would die in the winter of a  temperate location, and thus cannot exist here, at his home on the east coast, during January (the high formal logic version is All cats are Hairless Felines. No Hairless Felines are Winter Winter Adapted Felines. Therefore,  No Cats are Winter Adapted Felines). Alternatively, by expending far more power, John can Justify his axiom, backtracking along a foreign line of logic. Perhaps Cats are Hairless because a Cat (and, by association, all felines) is a kind of octopus (formally: All Octopeople are Hairless. All Cats are Octopeople. Therefore, all Cats are Hairless). How much power is expended whenever you use either ability depends on how many formal logic steps it takes to get to the final result.

Memes? In MY blogposts? Its more likely than you think.

Variations

• Mother Necessity: Wizards only have one part of their axiom (S or P) until they decide to use their axiom, after which it becomes unchangeable. 
• Nobilis Rip-off: No limit on how much axioms can be used.
• Define Subject: Each wizard has the same subject for their axiom. No contradictions.
• Informally: Power expended depends on how long it takes to convince the DM
• Principle Explosion: Wizards can take two axioms. Contradictory axioms are encouraged.
• Modernity: Wizards can use imaginary things as part of their axiom.
• Fuck Plato: All of the above

Fairies

They say (2d6):

2. They are Cruel. Child-Thieves and men killers. There is nothing good among them.
3. They are Tricky. Life is a game, or maybe a joke. You are the punchline.
4. They are Magic. Nothing truly makes much sense when they put their minds to things.
5. They are Old. They were around before you, and they'll be around after.
6. They are Lies. They don't exist. Don't listen to everyone else.
7. They are Complicated. Roll Twice.
8. They are Real. They exist. Don't listen to everyone else.
9. They are Young. Younger than a newborn, younger than the morning.
10. They are Mad. Everything makes so much sense when they put their mind to it.
11. They are Haughty. You are beneath them. They won't even acknowledge you killing them
12. They are Kind. Friends of orphans and widows. Good things flow from them like wine.
Evidently, they say a lot of things.

A Vernal World

Unrelated?

Design Philosophy

Lot's of OSR bloggers talk about the feel of most RPGs in a certain way. They call it An Aesthetic of Ruin or something and use words like autumnal, entropic, and bygone. Everything in their worlds is winding down. The empires are destroyed, technology has been lost, something, something, ravages of time. It's where all their dungeons and treasure and monsters come from. It's all very elegant.

Unrelated??

I, however, favor a vernal world. My worlds are new, or at the start of a cycle. The world is growing, and is growing kind. Before there was dark times, but now there is a season where people are working to make the ground soft and the rain warm.

Related????

I shall stop waxing poetic and tell you now how I try to run worlds striving towards the sun.

Let the players Make Things

The seeds the players sow should grow, even when unattended. When the players help an npc, that help will help the NPC in the future as well. If the players help a town, that town grows from their assistance. If they build a stronghold, that stronghold shouldn't devolve into chaos when they leave. Things should grow, not wither. These will be the great cities of summer.

Make the World Open Up

The snow melts and reveals things from another age. The flowers open to be enjoyed. It may take time, and it may take work. A prophecy might come to light, or a lost land might be found. Maybe it is smaller than that, like on a village scale. It's a season of discovery.

It may start Dark as Autumn

The end of autumn and the start of spring have the same sunlight. Make the players work for the dawn, sometimes, or maybe wait for it. Things can start hostile. Things can start hopeless. Maybe you choose to start in the middle of spring too. That's fine if you just want to see things grow already.

Here is Found Great Struggles

What is spring if not thunderous? The mythic battles of later ages will be fought now and will nourish the heroes of summer.

Closing thoughts

I lied when I said I would stop waxing poetic. Here's this: The world can grow and that can be just as interesting as the world dying. Let your players grow empires, learn, and strive sometimes. To fight a losing battle against darkness and decay in a world of evil and greed sometimes just isn't fun. To write a bit pretentiously one more time: Things run in a cycle, and when it has been autumn and winter so long, it must run to spring.

Related

Dreams and Wizards

Topology?

Imagine a disc shaped projection of a sphere.

Like this.

Points of interest are evenly-ish spaced on a sphere, but when projected like this, the center becomes more dense than the edge. In addition, the South Pole forms a ring around the edge. But the Earth is a sphere, and we can change the center of the map to focus on the South Pole.

Like this.

And it becomes inverted. Now imagine people lived on the projections. To them the world is disc shaped, the center is always denser than the edge, and there is a ring of water (or land) around the edge.

Wizards

But wizards are too cool for topological projection. In dreams, they can travel to the dreamlands, which is basically the Great Sea but inverted like you see above. Normally the great sea is in the middle, but in the dreamlands the great sea encircles the land. In addition, ruins in the waking world become more spaced out when you travel to the deserts, and more dense when travelling towards the sea (this may conflict with normal ideas of desert/ruin relationships, but just hold with me a bit). The reason why there isn't a huge pile of ruins in the middle of the Sea is because it's underwater (there are a few bits above the water. They belong to the last Neph). In the dreamlands, the ruins cluster in the center of the desert instead of the ocean, so there is a huge pile of ruins. Depending on who you ask, it's called Kadath, the Mountain of Sand, or the (False) Theophany. They call it this cause the gods live at the top.

needs more desert

But You Said Everyone Worships One Of The Goddesses

 As we all know from such a reputable scholar as Goblinpunch, spells are just soulstuff, bits of sentience, animals made of thought. The dreamlands is where these things reside, and where wizards snatch their spells from each night. Just as the greatest and most powerful men become kings, so do the greatest and most powerful spells. And a king made from nothing but thought and dream would, in the nomenclature of wizards, be a god. These gods sit at the ninth level of the Mountain of Sand. At the head of their table sits The Spell, Wish, exercising his dominion over all the dreamlands. At the gate stands their gatekeeper and messenger, Prismatic Wall. I'll go into detail about all the gods later. No one worships Wish any more than they worship a king, suffice to say.

Sometimes Prismatic Wall looks kinda like this, but made from thought

Alright, But Is There Loot?

Yeah, probably. There is spells to steal, magic items to find, one story even tells about the location of the idea of wealth. The problem is that men of the waking world are as incorporeal spirits there. Bargains must be struck with the spells there, much as spells strike bargains with wizards to affect the waking world. In addition, some wizards can brew tangibility potions.

But I'm Not A Wizard, How Do I Get There?

Poets can help with this. Due to their already powerful connection to the soul, poets can specialize in lyrical techniques to transport non-wizards to other planes. The body stays in the waking world, though. It also takes a lot of magic drugs for these poems to work properly. I'll write up a post for a poet class sometime.

Conclusion

The gods of wizards are strange and powerful, and their lands are familiar and foreign. It is unwise to disturb their dreams.

Exploring the Elfin Kingdoms

Who's winning the King's War today?

1.  A powerful and ancient second generation elf, hoping to win the war so he can die and pass the kingdom on to his children (and do it right this time)
2. A powerful and ancient second generation elf, hoping to win the war so he can achieve true immortality and reign forever with grace and terror
3. An eminent third generation elf whose father cleverly won land with political marriage and intrigue
4. An eminent third generation elf whose father won land by attacking his neighbors in dishonorable raids in during the great crusade
5. An eminent third generation elf who won lands for himself during his youth and has his eyes set on a beautiful princess in a neighboring kingdom
6. An eminent third generation elf who won lands for himself during his youth and has his eyes set on an plain princess in a neighboring kingdom for political purposes
7. An eminent third generation elf who won lands for himself during his youth and has his eyes set on a dirt poor and gorgeous human peasant in his own kingdom
8. A half-elf bastard knight who became a major player through the favor of his king
9. A half-elf bastard knight who became a major player through sneaky stabby tactics
10. A Human? What?

No, but seriously, who's actually winning the War?

Witch-Queen Pim is, though none of the other elves will admit it. From her city in the sea, she reigns over all the elves warring upon the land. Her magical power is unmatched anywhere in the world. In the dreamlands, she is next to a god and has deals with the most powerful among the dreamland's sedentary deities. When she steps upon the mainland, the war stops so the elf-kings can lay their coats at her feet.

Average out the above pictures to see what Witch-Queen Pim looks like

[Her kingdom in the sea is pretty cool so I'll write about that sometime]

What is this kingdom like?

1. Lots of domes and spires. Light pink stone and dark wood. Shepherd peasants live in bright tents. Heath dominates the land.
2. Sloped Roofs and green-painted wood. Kites affixed to every surface. Peasants work ripe vineyards. Knights wear hand-stitched scarves detailing funeral rites.
3. Arcades below support gardens above. Streams run in every direction, starting rivers in other kingdoms. Most peasants are grain farmers and are often raided by the neighboring kingdoms.
4. Buttresses and spines decorate the palaces. Peasants practice forestry and live in cottages. Knights wear the chitin of large spiders.
5. Crystals adorn turrets and crenellenations. Peasants live below ground and are often miners. Shells are used as currency where gold is common.
6. Fortified mansions replace palaces here. Peasants most often hunt, so meat is plentiful and eaten undercooked by the nobles. Horns and antlers replace weapons when steel is scarce.
7. Almost the entire population dwells in decrepit and beautiful ruins. Peasants farm glowing fungus for ethereal elf-bread. Armor still bears groves where runes were writ in the last age.
8. Roll again, but it's entirely underground. If this result is rolled again, it's further underground.

What menaces this kingdom?

1. Non-violent heredity squabbles
2. Violent heredity squabbles
3. Famine
4. The elves are killing their human peasants
5. Big bad monster
6. Roll twice more. This result can be rolled again. Elf kingdoms suck for humans.

How big?

1. Literally just a hamlet
2. 1d4 hamlets, 1 town
3. 1d4 towns, 1 city
4. 1d4 cities, 1 capital

As a rule of thumb, they fit in a 6-mile hex. They can be larger, though.

This one is ruled over by King Locrantz. He's kind of a jerk.

Why isn't the witch queen smiting them all now?

No one knows.

A Dungeon

Dungeon

Probably can be placed in most settings. Levels 0-5. Very small.

The Exile's Tomb

1. The Offering Room: 25ftx25ft Dead flowers, apple cores, and bread husks are scattered around. Difficult check finds a talisman (detailed at the end). Doors on the north and east end (Prince's room and Gestalt tomb respectively). entrance on the south wall. Info: the bodies and souls of those exiled from their homes and denied judgement often make their way here, and it is a regular duty of church-affiliated adventurers to purify the souls within.
2. The Prince's Room: 20ftx20ft Statue in the center (man with sword, eyes crudely scratched out) above a coffin. 1d4 shadows, or other level appropriate incorporeal undead. When defeated, statue crumbles to reveal 10sp/gp (whatever is standard) and a longsword (damage dice one step higher for 1d6 days). Info: This room is generally inhabited by the followers of a long dead prince and his line. The sword found in the statue was once a sword lost in the swamp surrounding the tomb. Most of the adventurers that come to the tomb don't enter the prince's room, seeing it as unnecessary.
   
3. The Gestalt Tomb: 25ftx50ft. Lined with stone coffins (corpses only have junk). Each time the room is entered, 50% chance to wake up the combined ghost of the common dead (friendly, knows nearly everything about the dungeon, wants to be purified. possible warlock/cleric patron). Exits on the east wall (Family and killer's room).
4.  Family Tomb: 20ftx20ft. simple trap in front of entrance. Richly decorated coffins (10 sp/gp if gold leaf is removed haphazardly). 25% chance 1d3 will rise as zombies if tomb is desecrated. 10 sp/gp in on bodies. Info: tomb of a rich merchant family, exiled for treason.
5. Killer's Room: 20ftx20ft. Initially sealed, unsealed by gestalt ghost. Pitch black coffin in center. Phantom emerges. If killed, drops Mad Book (see end) and a +0 cursed dagger (curse of dm's choice). Info: A madman was laid here; he was essentially Jack the Ripper. Adventurers should be advised that this room is dangerous.

Treasure

• Talisman: When carried by, or directed towards, a dying creature, that creature automatically makes their next death save. In addition, any psychopomps or spirits they may be fighting in the ethereal world are reduced to half health. The Talisman breaks after one use.
• Mad Book: A scroll book containing two random warlock 1st level spells. Casting either of these spells for the first time causes 1 point of wisdom damage.

How do I use this?

It's a dungeon. It's best when it is the first dungeon the players encounter. The rooms are designed to sort players into their party roles: The Prince Room, Gestalt Tomb, Family Tomb, and Killer's room provide helpful/necessary items to fighters, clerics, rogues, and magic-users respectively, with challenges to fit their niche. It's simple, but it's also the first dungeon in the game.

[This was sitting in my drafts for a while, and I figured I should publish it since it fits this month's RPG carnival theme]

The Elfin War

Optional History: The Nephim

The earliest era known to historians of the Great Sea is the pre-marine era, when the earthly sphere was entirely desert, ruled by the goddess Cthon. The nephim were the humanoids designed by the three goddesses to survive the harsh desert and house the most powerful souls. The lesser souls that would become humans solely dwelt in the spheres above and below at this point.

The immortal nephim built the great black pyramids that dot the known lands, and enjoyed prosperity until the fall of Cthon and the creation of the Lords of Pain. After the fall of Cthon, Selene, who had previously ruled the underworld, caused an global ocean to form, far larger than the Great Sea. The nephim who survived on the sparse islands, though their population was less than a thousand, were given human souls from both above and below to rule over. When they ruled justly, they would ascend to the lunar sphere. When they were cruel, they were thrown to the underworld. When Gaia began her era and made the Great Sea, the nephim numbered less than five members.

The Great King Gu

Gu was a good man. Gu was a good warrior. Gu was a good strategist. Gu was, however, a terrible king. 

Gu was the first king after the nephim. He was what people today would call an elf, but there wasn't any distinction back then. Some people just lived longer than others. In fact, Gu is the ancestor to all modern elfs. He conquered, ruled, and seduced half the known world in his 200 years of life. 

At the height of his reign, he ruled over what is now all the human and elfin kingdoms. "Ruled," however, is a tentative term. The extent of his sovereignty was the taxes levied on the various city-states who governed themselves (mostly on the laws of the nephim). The provinces under his control warred constantly, though none dared approach the capital. After his death, his, "empire," shattered.

The root of the problem was this: the kings before him were nephim. No precedent was set for succession, because they were immortal. No precedent was set for enforcement, because they were divinely appointed. So the empire of Gu fell. 

The scholar priests of Selene posit that Gu was born of the unlikely (possibly miraculous) union of a nephim and a human. Thus, they say, he inherited the right of rulership, and passed it on to his children, the elves. It should come as no surprise that Selene is worshiped near exclusively in the elfin kingdoms.

The Thousand Heirs of Creation

Every elf is a bastard. Bastard blood from father to son, grandfather to father (though the length of an elfin generation makes about only 4-5 generations since Gu was alive). But Gu never bore a true heir, one that held the same strength of dominion as he did. So all elves fight for a throne given to no one.

When Gu died, all of his children made a bid for the crown. They seized control of whatever towns they could and went to war. The First Kings War never truly stopped. However, by the second generation, most of the full blooded humans rose up, under the banner of Patriarch Mortimer I, coincidentally the first patriarch, and conquered the holy city of Cerulemen (which was, of course, not holy then) as refugees.

To keep a strong claim, all elves seek to keep their bloodline as pure as possible. To make a half-elf is to waste a child. The first generation was when most of the families lost their claim: while most intermarried with humans, the more cunning/willful/insane pressured the Fatefire Mages. Within a few decades, a spell was devised to entwine an elf soul with chaotic magic, making elves fateless, magical, and unable to produce children with birth defects. Thus were born the True elves, born with fire in their heart from two children of Gu. The incest of the True elves was one of the factors leading to the Crusade of Cerulemen.

After the Crusade, the elf kings (of which there were 40-60)  were left with a few hundred human farmers and a few dozen half-elf bastard knights each. They couldn't levy farmers, especially not anymore, and they couldn't risk their knights. In addition, the human war-machine had begun in the east, conquering the previously elf-held southern plains and killing almost half of the elves there. For a few generations, all the elves could collectively manage was a rather poor defense and a great deal of intrigue.

The Second Kings War

After 400 years, or 3-4 elfin generations, The Kings War slowly restarted. The population of both humans and half-elves under the control of the Elf kings has returned to historic levels, and the Great Crusade has slowed to a crawl due to public disinterest and the fact that it has lasted for 400 years (though, again, technically never finished). Thus, without real outside threat, and now with actual armies, the elves reaffirmed to themselves that, yes, this land belongs to me and hey that guy's land should also belong to me.

Pretty much any elf or half-elf can make a claim and enter the war as a new belligerent. I'll detail mechanics for players making a claim a bit later.

One of the Elf Kings probably turned into this.

[Gotta cite this post for the True Elves and probably some other bits]