Welcome to Cloudera

Cloudera, the Third Age of Vallera

A Brief World Overview

Cloudera is an archipelago world covered in a sea of clouds. The largest collections of islands make up the three main political powers which constantly vey for control of territory, shipping lanes, and exploration of the mysterious Shifting Seas which contain untold ancient treasures.
The first and oldest major power is the theocratic nation of Allera. The Allerans believe in the one true “Maker” and reject the beliefs of all other peoples as blastphamous. They claim to be keepers of the history of the world and that their unbroken line of rulers, the Skythorns, date back to before the “Clouds swept the world to purify the evils of the surface”. Of course, there is no public evidence of their claims and any supposed histories they hold are kept under lock and key in the keep of the floating city of Thesa, their seat of power.
The second major power is The Collective of Independent Islands. As the name implies, The Collective is a growing group of independent territories which have formed a republic in order to band together resources for economic prosperity and mutual defense. While it may not have the military might of the Alleran Navy, the Collective's militia style fleet is never-the-less effective. Many wars have been fought over the years for control of shipping lanes and key islands between the Allerans and The Collective.
Finally, the third and most volatile of the major powers is the Red Fleet. The Fleet is an organization of pirates, mercenaries, and marauder’s who are constantly skirmishing with the Allerans, the Collective, and raiding smaller independent groups. If the Fleet has any territory or home, it is a closely guarded secret, as is their command structure. Nevertheless, the Fleet executes raids and skirmishes with a masterful level of tactics which has caused them to be branded as their own major power. Independent islands have quickly learned that while they may be pirates, most Fleet captains can be reasonable for the right price…so when you see their flag burst through the mists into your port, its best to start filling the wagons with offerings before they decide to spend the night…
A timeline with the broad strokes of this ages history can be found here: History of Cloudera.

Campaign Structure

The compaign is intended to be an open world with the oppertunity for a bit of everyhing from randomized hexploration of uncharable the Shifting Seas to traditional dungeon crawling to political intrigue. The beginning of the campaign (levels 1-3) is intended to be fairly structured in order to introduce players to the unique aspects of the setting and get them time to figure out how to effectively use their characters in things unique to the world, like ship combat and handling adverse conditions of the Cloud Sea. This portion will move quickly with milestone leveling and the expecation that players level every few sessions. After that, leveling will slow down a bit and the world will open up to the players so they can determine how they would like to go about achieving their goals. If players desire a more open ended explorer experience, then leveling may switch to XP based so they are free to hone their skills without following any predetermined milestones.
Because beyond level 3 is rather players driven, it's important at least some characters, and ideally the party as a whole, have goals by the time they reach level 3. For example, maybe they want to discover an uncharted island to call home, or unravel the mysteries of the Shifting Seas, or maybe they just want to get dirty strinking rich by becoming infamous blood thirsty pirates; who knows, players be players. The key is that they should forge their own path and their decisions will influence how events already in motion in the world unfold. The world is full of powerful forces and schemes that are already in motion both of mortal making and otherwise. What becomes of our heroes, and ultimately the world, will be determined by the path they forge and the choices they make.
Leveling will happen about every four sessions, although this may vary based on what players choose to pursue. All players will level together, just to keep stuff simple. While the world is an open one, schemes and powerful forces are always at work and eventually the players are bound to run afoul of them. These events may drastically alter the landscape of the campaign depending upon how the players decide to help, hinder, or ignore them.
The entire campaign is intended to go to level 10. At that point, we can make a decision about continuing along with a 10-20 campaign, or switching to another campaign.

Equipment

Most settlements will have basic equipment shops including magic items. Their stock will be limited by item rarity and level. For example, a small fishing village may only have accesss to common items up to level 3. Larger or merchant settlements will have higher level goods. Uncommon goods will generally require traveling to a particular area known for that good and rare goods will almost always require quest(s) to acquire that good.
To keep things balanced, Treasure By Level will generally be followed. The GM will use a combination of specific treasure to ensure power is balanced and random role tables. Because equipment can be purchased, players may also need to buy "standard gear" like healing potions and runes and the GM will prompt them to do this if it seems like things are getting out of balance. If players have any specific equipment goals, they should discuss with the GM so that that equipment can be worked into the campaign in a meaningful way.
Shopping trips and crafting will either happen outside of normal session time, or will be done very quickly during the session. Interaction with merchants and vendors will happen but it will be for special cases, not for stocking up on field rations or health potions.

Every Story Has a Beginning

Our story begins in the year 568 in a small, independent trading island of Skyfoss which is named after its most prominent feature, the giant cloud fall which constantly spills from the top of Mount Foss straight into the cloud sea. Skyfoss is a peaceful place which primarily trades in their abundant huge wild caught Quefish and the iron deposits found in Mount Foss. You find yourself in the Bent Hook Tavern, looking for work. A merchant, Captain Guff McGee is looking to hire a few additional crew, which is common in these parts, for a delivery and return voyage. You sign on to be part of the temporary crew, and our adventure begins.

Content Moderation

All sessions and content for the campaign will follow PG-13 rules and use "fade out" scenes for any acceptable but explicit content that isn't allowable by PG-13. The GM may also "fade out" or "summarize and move on" for scenes as they see fit to keept the story moving or avoid something that risks becoming explicit content.
Player on player violence will only be allowed if everyone at the table agrees, including other players and the GM. This extends to malicious or otherwise harmful actions a player may take against another player, e.g. stealing from another player or casting a spell which harms another player. If something like this occurs, the GM reserves the right to overrule and temporarily take control of the scene to resolve any conflicts. Ask the GM privately if this is unclear.

Off limit topics:

• Body horror
• Purposeful violence toward children