Here’s the world and system for the only game I want to run.
This is pretty short; it’s a meta-level primer for players to engage with a goal. More is revealed as more is explored.
The continent of Netzinea is hardly civilized. It has one metropolis at its center, and its civilization fades the farther away you go. The regions of the continent are named after part of the eyeball, as their is an intense focus towards the center.
A collection of uncivilized wildlands. Various beasts, monstrosities, and demons roam the dark forests, blasted wastelands, and inpenetrable deserts of this area. That’s not to say it’s uninhabited by any sorts of humans, but their ununified societies and lifestyles are radically different from the more unified societies. Relationships among these small societies are tense at best, as there is often fierce competition for resources.
The geography of the Sclera is varied, but generally low elevation. Swamps or steep cliffs border the ocean.
This is an extensive borderland between the Pupil and the Sclera. It is inhabited by a mixture of more outdoors-inclined city inhabitants, and more orderly wild people. This is a regions with a shifting exterior border, as new settlements are set up and destroyed, but a fixed internal border with the pupil, in the form of a huge wall of mountains with guarded passes.
The geography is similarly varied as the Sclera, but there is a net elevation drop outwards from the center.
Inside a solid ring of mountains is the largest unified society on Netzinea: The Hidden City of Goeina. It is mostly below ground for safety, though one tall watchtower is visible from miles away. City issued passes are required for most activities and entrance to Goeina.
The city is very large; people spend years mapping even sections of it. The Fort Mountains are the highest elevation on the continent.
Goeina is almost entirely human, except for a few more abnormal creatures that have been permitted to pass. There are no elves, dwarves, or orcs; they are said to have all died in a war long ago. Remains of their civilizations can be found in many places.
Long ago there was a big war where all the elves, dwarves, and orcs died. Ruins of their civilizations can be found all around. Humans, the omnipresent cockroach, survived and took up whatever scraps remained to form Goeina.
Basically Tunnel Goons, with a few rules on how to handle a few extra situations, and a couple modifications:
Replace the class scores with specific skills: Brute -> lifting heavy stuff OR hand to hand combat; Skulker -> sneaking OR shooting a crossbow OR acrobatics; etc. Let players come up with their own!
Have an extensive equipment list: Start with 3 inventory slots of items off of lists. Have a wide availability of fantasy gear.
Spells: they ‘just happen.’ If under pressure to perform the spell ritual, you may need to roll.
Need to Save vs Damage? If you roll below the DS, take damage equal to the difference between the DS and your roll. Otherwise take no damage and succeed.
All magic is crafting. It’s manipulating new physics that are not entirely understood. You need to combine an energy source with mechanics to produce the desired effect. The construction and results are up to you.
There is some naturally occurring magical effects in the world (nature is governed of physics). You may come across strange effects in the wild and reverse-engineer their inner workings to be able to produce new magical devices.
You do this as a player by stealing keywords from the world, Whitehack-style. Examples:
Players may keep a record of their events that will be found and recorded. All future players may go back and read these notes for in-world info.