Remake/Remodel: Aylse

[johntfs]

Back a few years ago and continuing to this day, comic writer Warren Ellis hosted an art challenge that involved "reclaiming old comic characters" and otherwise updating them into something readers today would find interesting. An example of this can be found here. (http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=7026&page=1)

So, in that spirit (and given that TORG) has been purchased by someone wishing to eventually resurrect it) I submit that we look at the various classic cosms and consider what should be added, subtracted or left be. First up, Aylse.

For me the biggest problem with Aylse was that it was so... generic fantasy. Elves. Dwarves. Goblins. Good, Evil and Neutral Pantheons. While there were a few interesting twists here and there (the peoples' perception actually affecting the shape of the cosm to the point the sun rose and fell through a hole in world; the half-folk civil rights movement) overall Aylse felt like a hundred other AD&D worlds and fantasy novels before it. The fact that it became the "good" realm also tended to stifle the kind of malevolence that some of the older faerie tales had in them.

For a Remade Aylse, I'd like to see more emphasis on political intrigue as well as callbacks to the old Faerie instead of just elves and dwarves. There's a rich folklore that can be mined and I'd like to see that done.

[copeab]

For a Remade Aylse, I'd like to see more emphasis on political intrigue as well as callbacks to the old Faerie instead of just elves and dwarves. There's a rich folklore that can be mined and I'd like to see that done.

Making it a sidhe realm would indeed be nasty. Faeries aren't cute little Tinkerbells -- even the "good" ones can be capricious and hauty. Which, combined with their power, makes them unpleasant at best.

A relevant quote (paraphrased) from one of the Sookie Stackouse books: "Shifters are humans with a genetic twist. Vampires are just dead humans. Faeries only look human."

[skeloric]

What Aysle needs IMHO, is a more coherently epic LotR theme.
The Crown of Drakakanus is an analogue to Sauron's ring, after all.
The crown should have a suitably epic means of destruction, perhaps.
What injures Aysle is that it was designed a little too "generic fantasy" and not enough of a very specific fantasy story.
Giving Aysle a very rich fantasy history might be a solution.

[Kansas Jim]

During my last phase of remodeling attempts for a campaign that never got off the ground, I'd moved Aysle to the Caribbean and gone with a swashbuckling pirate fantasy theme for it. The fairies, along with dragons and some other medieval European aspects, I moved over to the Cyberpapacy where I'd planned on increasing the emphasis on the medieval mindset and atmosphere instead of the cyberpunk technology and the GodNet. And subconsciously I may have been wanting to avoid the Tinkerbell association that combining pirates and fairies in a setting might bring about!

I had planned on making the Houses and the political infighting between them a bigger theme in my new Aysle, eventually leading up to civil war when Ardinay eventually returned and threw everything into chaos (instead of her return at the beginning of the campaign I was going to leave Uthorion in charge for the first couple of years with bringing about Ardinay's return a long-term subplot for the PCs.) There'd also be squabbling and clashes between Aysle and the Living Land given their closer proximity, with Aysle violating the Gaunt Man's plans and expanding into territory that'd been promised to Kaah like Florida and Mexico.

I had planned on adding to the existing half-folk with some new amphibious races but never got very far with the idea. I was also thinking of eliminating giants as a distinct race, instead they were humans who were born contrary and their 'bad' birth magic was to become a giant. Similiarly I was thinking that the half-folk might also arise from 'bad' birth magics. I was also going to expand the good birth magics so that it was more than just an add in a skill and an AK, there'd be a small chance of getting something like an enhancement package or some other kind of innate magical power.

I was figuring that I'd need to tweak the Laws of Honor and Corruption to better fit the swashbuckling pirate atmosphere over the 'knights in shining armor' theme that Honor was more aimed at supporting but never got anything done with it. I was also going to drop the Spirit axiom a few points and bump Tech up by one point. Then I was going to rework Voodoo since it'd now be operating under Aysle's axioms and have a lot more powerful effects available to it, both magical and spiritual.

[copeab]

What Aysle needs IMHO, is a more coherently epic LotR theme.


Gotta disagree. "Epic" is only meaningful if you're the characters destined to resolve everything.

[johntfs]

Overall I prefer Aylse to have its main setting in its original location. There's just so must rich folklore in Britain, France, Ireland and Northern Europe that works well within the idea of "High Fantasy." That said, I think that the Caribbean would make for a very interesting "second front" like Quebec for the Cyberpapacy and California for Nippon Tech.

I also think Uthorian needs a bit of a remodel to avoid being a joke. The whole "possessing Ardinay" scheme seems kind of silly. Nobody cracked tranny jokes about Sauron.

[Rerun941]

Since Aylse is considered a "High Fantasy" area... what about introducing a "Low Fantasy" setting somewhere else? Perhaps Eastern Europe somewhere? Or maybe Turkey and the Baltic? Make it gritty and rough like a Conan-esque setting. (with a Torg twist, of course).

Just brainstormin' here.

[johntfs]

Since Aylse is considered a "High Fantasy" area... what about introducing a "Low Fantasy" setting somewhere else? Perhaps Eastern Europe somewhere? Or maybe Turkey and the Baltic? Make it gritty and rough like a Conan-esque setting. (with a Torg twist, of course).

Just brainstormin' here.

Actually, I'd say that the Land Below/Above would fulfill those requirements, wouldn't it?

[skeloric]

Since Aylse is considered a "High Fantasy" area... what about introducing a "Low Fantasy" setting somewhere else? Perhaps Eastern Europe somewhere? Or maybe Turkey and the Baltic? Make it gritty and rough like a Conan-esque setting. (with a Torg twist, of course).

Just brainstormin' here.

Actually, I'd say that the Land Below/Above would fulfill those requirements, wouldn't it?
The Land Below/Above was more Tarzan and less Conan, IMHO

[johntfs]

I could see Conan running around in the Land Below/Above a lot easier than I could in Alyse.

[monarch71]

During my last phase of remodeling attempts for a campaign that never got off the ground, I'd moved Aysle to the Caribbean and gone with a swashbuckling pirate fantasy theme for it. The fairies, along with dragons and some other medieval European aspects, I moved over to the Cyberpapacy where I'd planned on increasing the emphasis on the medieval mindset and atmosphere instead of the cyberpunk technology and the GodNet. And subconsciously I may have been wanting to avoid the Tinkerbell association that combining pirates and fairies in a setting might bring about!

I had planned on making the Houses and the political infighting between them a bigger theme in my new Aysle, eventually leading up to civil war when Ardinay eventually returned and threw everything into chaos (instead of her return at the beginning of the campaign I was going to leave Uthorion in charge for the first couple of years with bringing about Ardinay's return a long-term subplot for the PCs.) There'd also be squabbling and clashes between Aysle and the Living Land given their closer proximity, with Aysle violating the Gaunt Man's plans and expanding into territory that'd been promised to Kaah like Florida and Mexico.

I had planned on adding to the existing half-folk with some new amphibious races but never got very far with the idea. I was also thinking of eliminating giants as a distinct race, instead they were humans who were born contrary and their 'bad' birth magic was to become a giant. Similiarly I was thinking that the half-folk might also arise from 'bad' birth magics. I was also going to expand the good birth magics so that it was more than just an add in a skill and an AK, there'd be a small chance of getting something like an enhancement package or some other kind of innate magical power.

I was figuring that I'd need to tweak the Laws of Honor and Corruption to better fit the swashbuckling pirate atmosphere over the 'knights in shining armor' theme that Honor was more aimed at supporting but never got anything done with it. I was also going to drop the Spirit axiom a few points and bump Tech up by one point. Then I was going to rework Voodoo since it'd now be operating under Aysle's axioms and have a lot more powerful effects available to it, both magical and spiritual.

Huh... In my most recent Torg game (a new invasion, essentially another cosmverse that assumes the Gaunt Man "won" the orignal war and became Torg in one cosmverse), I moved Aysle to the Carribean, as well. For essentially the same reasons.

I can definitely see re-working birth magic to have an effect more like an innate power in many cases, rather than just a slight leg-up when learning some magic.

Over-all, I see Aysle as being one of the cosms least needing a re-working. Its basic fantasy concept is pretty solid, and that's appealing in its simplicity and ease of use. However... What if more examples of literal reality were to be enacted. For example, what if the souls of the dead really went to an underworld -- an actual place underground, perhaps the flip side of the "planet" Aysle, or the center of the disk? What if the gods reside in a temple/palace on the highest mountain in the world?

GT

[sparrow]

I always thought moving Aysle to Japan (or China) made more sense for a more samurai (or wuxia) like cosm akin to Ninja Scroll with shoguns and demon and asian mythology. The Honor and Corruption would work great as would the magic and birth stuff. I might change the Highlord to being a dragon or something.

[johntfs]

One thing about moving Aylse is to consider that Aylse has the effect of partially crippling the industrialized nations of Europe as well as giving a place for European TORG players to imagine.

As which the Cyberpapacy thread, let's take a look at Aylse's axioms

Magic 18

This is pretty much the defining characteristic of Aylse and should remain where it is, I believe.

Social 18

This seems a little high. I'd prefer this to drop to maybe a 15, which puts Alyse right in the 1600sAD Core Earthwise.

Spirit 16

This is probably okay. It allows for Priests/clerics to have plenty of punch even in a world of wizards.

Tech 15

Going with the idea of "pirate Aylse" at least as a second front, let's raise this to 16. It allows for a more "Renaissance" feel that characterized the pirate times. However, the high degree of magic also meant that the more medieval minded equipment could stick around. Figure that nobles would have their armor enchanted with spells to turn away bullets...

So, my modified axioms for Aylse are:

Magic 18
Social 15
Spiritual 16
Technology 16

[Apieros]

Those looking at a pirate-inspired fantasy Aysle, should check out 50 Fathoms (a Savage Worlds Setting).