Project Vanguard v.1 WIP

inspiration
#1

So, I’ve been working these days on this, a The 100 meets Darksiders kind of mixed setting, with angels, demons, and the humanity annihilated in a theological Apocalypse.
Hope you can help me improving it. English isn’t my first language, so give me a break with it hehe.

SETTING
Almost 100 years ago, the Apocalypse arrived. Reality-tearing breaches opened suddenly around the world and hordes of interdimensional creatures, the Celestials and Abyssals as we know them now, invaded our home, bringing with them their eternal war. Humanity was brought to the edge of extinction.

With the help of a dying race, the Scions, unholy offspring of Celestials and Abyssals, survivors came into a hidden arcology, the Last City, powered by arcane energies, were generations of people have been living until these days.

But now, the arcane barrier protecting the arcology is malfunctioning, bonded to the life of the last Scion. You, randomly selected, were sent outside the arcology, in order to find resources for the City, discover the origin of the Invaders and the End War, and to recover what they stole. It’s your job to take the fight to Them, and rebuild humanity’s legacy.

The Vanguard has arrive.

PCs
Between the chosen and those who offered themselves to be part of this mission, the Vanguard members have different occupations. These work as classes/arquetypes.

Slayer, damage dealers with different types.
Warden, the tank, the protectors of the Vanguard.
Navigator, the scout and beast master, focused on recon.
Historian, investigator and searcher of forgotten lore.
Envoy, the faces of the Vanguard, speakers, tasked with finding more survivors.
Healer, a support class focused on saving their companions, but capable of doing damage with toxins.
Artificer, a scientist, inventor or tinkerer kind of class.

Equipment

ENEMIES
Celestials, powerful tall creatures with various wings sets and detached limbs, with barely humanoid traits. These creatures posseses clothes and jewelry of purple, golden or white colors, and they themselves have pale or yellow skin. They have a hierarchical society where discipline, honor and pride are value. To them, Humanity is insignificant and useless and don’t deserve to be save nor any need for mercy. However, in the Material Plane they have a legion of soldiers and zelots under their orders.

Soldier
Archon
Tempest
Scribe
Librarian
Champion
General
Sage
Redeemer
Templar
Seraphim
Councilor
High Chancellor
Jugde
Blacksmith
Guardian
Beast master
Sentinel
Emissary
Keeper of Secrets
Watcher
Unsullied
Servant
Crusader
Sphinx
Virtue
Dominion
Exalted
Scryer

Abyssals, hideous but powerful creatures with different characteristics, multiple wings and limbs, tails and black, gray, red and orange colors associated to them. With a brutal, expansionist and threatening meritocratic society, they value strength above all.

Minion
Imp
Soldier
Legionary
Gladiator
Destroyer
Raider
Giant
Shapeshifter
Spider
Leviathan
Basilisk
Gorgon
Gremlin
Guardian
General
Tyrant
Spellslinger
Tormenter
Summoner
Abomination
Overlord
Butcher
Jailer
Usurper
Griever
Possessed
Elemental
Beastman
Sin
Artificer
Eidolon
Gargoyle
Golem
Prince
Lord
Baron
King
Defiler

Hollows

Humans

FACTIONS
Society of Dustkeepers
Legion of the Dawn
Twilight Swarm
Order of the Enchiridion
Thorn Acolytes
Oracle of Ashes
Lumox Industry
Black Hand
Order of Reconciliation
The Cursed Circus
The Arcanum Circle
Cabal of the Depth
The Travelers
Wild Hunters
Nightbringers Court

THE PLANES
Reality is divided in 3 planes of existence: The Material Plane, where humanity appeared. The Astral Plane, original plane of the Invaders, and The Spectral Plane,

BRIEF HISTORY

WIP

#2

Very cool!
My English is terrible, could claim it is my second language, but it’s the one I’m best at.
So far your English is fine, most of us native speakers are crappy at it as well. English is middle of the road to learn, but nearly impossible to use well. By contrast most Romance languages (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Romanian…) are easy to learn and imposible to always use properly.

My take is just that, what I thought after reading your primer, not even an informed opinion.

I love mythical religious wars. Your setting sounds great, but what is the story the humans tell themselves? Not the truth, but the story.

After that fill what they think they know in. ( this is how players see the world) what is true, or happening in the background is for the GM to see and decide.

Both the celestials and Abyssals should have factions as well, I think an appropriate archetype might be ancient warrior king types. Weathly, honor, great pull and resources. But loyalties where always moving. One minor defeat or even a costly win could mean disaster, for others a devastating loss is only a temporary setback (think Persian, Greek, Macedonian, Roman Republic) Always seeking position always showing the best of who they are except perhaps in private.

This is not so much to make them playable but for the GM to grasp something in them that they can use for perspective and personality. If not these beings are just totally alien to our thinking. Risk it all in a total war of annihilation. No quarter given, none asked. While epic, not much of a story to grasp onto.

You have a giant list of celestiales and demons. You might want to sub-divide them make it more digestible, but also consider dropping those that are not going to be encountered regularly. You can reintroduce some later.

Humans are semi ignored, but their world is endless war. What is the human society? How is the city managed? How are the hero’s selected? Are their other human settlements that are not part of the war?

Do the human zealots on the celestial side live in cities?
What does the world look like? Smell like, is it clear who controls what territory? Are they even fighting for territory or are the resources of the Great War something different?

You mentioned 3 worlds, is there a narrative reason for the 3? How are they traversed?

What are your goals? Personal world, publish to small groups, publish professionally?

This makes a difference in the consistency of style you present. If I played with you, and then I play with some other group, will it even seem like the same setting? Does that matter?

I’d just make an introduction adventure, keep filling up the world, but for the adventure very little world building is needed.

NPCs, Story, rooms/traps, rewards. In ICRPG characters creation, loot tables. Give this as an intro, seeds of the bigger story, but not too much. See if it grabs people or yourself as interesting?

I imagine something like, you have been selected to go forth and seek 7 holy relics, you must venture outside the walls.

Do the characters know rain, other humans, the internet, attack helicopters? Fire, magic, wild animals?

What happened to the last group that searched for holy relics?

Do the characters even know the nature of the war? Or have they been hidden so successfully or been so insignificant that it seems to have passed them by for the last 3 generations?

Any way hope that helps more than it hurts.

#3

Thanks for the feedback. I just realized I didn’t write the humanity lore lol. I’ll put it all in a .doc file, and think about the questions you asked.
Doble the work having to write it on Spanish first and then translate it :sweat_smile:

#4

I think this is a great idea that Paxx has it will for sure help with leading the gm in to what the plane roughly looks like and will let the gm expand on the world.
You could do this for each of the planes.