In Introduction to Gaés
Gaés is a planet built for the sole purpose of being a sandbox for Fantasy Roleplaying Games that I run and expansion into the world will be based around a number of campaign settings defined below. The world is built primarily from consultation and combination of the World Builder’s Guidebook released by TSR and the Game World Generator produced by Kent David Kelly as part of his excellent Castle Oldskull line. Although designed with old school Advanced Dungeons and Dragons in mind, I highly recommend both of these books for worldbuilders who want to take part in the hobby to create spaces for play, regardless of system they play, as they frequently bring attention back to the founding principle that we are creating these worlds to be fun play spaces for our players. It’s with this philosophy, that "the rule of cool" sometimes dictates that we ignore rain shadows and tectonic plates because it'd be more fun, that Gaés is designed.
Gaes is an earth-like planet with a planetary diameter of 6,115 miles, signifiantly smaller than Earth's 7,926 miles, and has, for gameplay purposes, gravity similar to that on Earth. It is spheroid, with slight elongation along its axis and slightly narrowed along the equator. Somewhat closer to its sun, Ilios, than Earth is to its, Gaés has a 296-day year and is generally warmer than our planet, while a somewhat greater axial tilt results in more extreme seasons than we experience on Earth.
Zones of Interest in Gaés
Eudokonia - The island subcontinent of Eudokonia is home to a Byzantine-inspired culture that has flourished in the wake of a war between god-like entities that ravaged the landscape. The standard campaign setting for Eudokonia, The Unconquered Sun Campaign Setting, takes place during the Lesser Theomachy, during which a mortal's quest for godhood spells the end of the delicate balance life has struck.
The Ženigrad Coast - On the easternmost outskirts of one of the world's largest continents lies the thickly forested tropics of the Ženigrad Coast, a land where even the gods themselves have fallen victim to the relentless march of time. Largely ignorant of the civilizations that rose and fell before their time, the Coast's inhabitants cling to isolated communities to ensure their survival. Some, however, seek to influence the future by understanding the past.
Brext - The bronze-age realms of Brext is ruled by a small minority who possess ancient Bloodlines reaching back to heroes of antiquity. As the powers passed on through the Bloodlines have begun to wane, so has the authority of the ruling class which jealously guards its place at the very height of society, despite the very real threats that surround it.
Recurring Themes and Genre
Gaés, as a reflection of the games I tend to run, is a world of Dark Fantasy. Having first seen this term when it was applied to Dragon Age: Origins, I joked that what defined the genre was persistent blood splatters. As the term has become more widely used, it can apply to a wide range of different worlds and settings, so I will define the four defining themes of the genre as interpreted in the setting:
Both Good and Evil exist, although it might be difficult to discern between the two - Differing from the 'shades of grey' philosophy which stresses relativity, Good and Evil exist as objective truths. Mankind, however, has a special gift in its ability to rationalize and justify one as being the other. As a result, it is incredibly easy to become lost in one's relationship with morality.
Magic is a powerful tool that frequently takes more than it gives in return - The presence of the supernatural is a defining characteristic of fantasy, but the supernatural ability to alter reality comes with a heavy price. Ritual sacrifice becomes common to move the cost from the caster to the sacrificial offering, although this, too, has its risks.
Divine entities are frequently either indifferent, impotent, or ignorant - Humanity beseeches the divine to protect it from the horrors of this world, but their prayers rarely result in deliverance from troubles. Whether this means that the divines choose to ignore their supplicants or are unable to help them, the result is that mankind is, largely, on its own.
While protagonists might be common, heroes are rare, if they exist at all - Traditional fantasy is full of protagonists that are more beautiful, more intelligent, more beautiful, and more capable than everyone else. Protagonists in Gaés are just as deeply flawed as the rest of humanity and the most perfect on the outside may just be the most rotten on the inside.
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