The setting

This is a placeholder page for content that PD are actively working on.

Overview

This page lays out the setting of the Empire game in broad strokes.

A closed world

Empire takes place in a closed world. This means that it has its own setting, laid out on the wiki. Players take roles within the world, and don't have the ability to introduce significant new elements. This may be part of game overview instead but possibly worth repeating in intro.

Human dilemmas

We often use the term "low fantasy" to refer to the Empire world, even though it is a fantastical setting with magical elements. What we mean by this is that while it is a fantasy setting, it is one where the kind of problems players encounter are rooted in human behaviour and politics rather than outside supernatural forces (Bleh!). Conflict comes from clashing beliefs and competition for resources rather than world-ending threats or demonic invasions.

Nations

There are ten nations in the Empire, and every player character belongs to one of them. Each of the nations is developed on the Empire wiki.

The Empire

While there is a larger world beyond Imperial borders, the game focuses on events that take place within the Empire. We don't model the external factions in detail - they exist to create interesting interactions among the players within the Empire. This doesn't mean the Empire is the most important place in the world in-character, but it is the heart of the game out of character.

As such, we don't detail foreign nations or barbarian forces in the same level of detail as the Imperial nations, and events outside the Empire are important only to the degree that they effect Imperial citizens.

The People

Unlike many fantasy games, the Empire setting contains only a few sapient species. The majority of Imperial citizens are humans, although the Imperial Orcs nation allows for orc player characters. There are a handful of other sapient species in the game but they are very rarely encountered by Imperial citizens.

Some humans are touched by the power of the magical realms and develop lineage. There are six lineages in the Empire setting - briar, cambion, changeling, draughir, merrow, and naga. Each has physical trappings that mark them out as different to unlineaged humans and their personalities are influenced by the magical realm they are associated with. Lineaged people are found throughout the world, and while they are still fundamentally human different nations have different attitudes to different lineages.

Tolerant world

The Empire world may look medieval on the surface, but this inspiration is more about the look-and-feel than the attitudes of the people. Prejudice based around sex, gender, or real-world ethnicity is unknown. It's not an element we're interested in including in the game. Prejudice still exists, but it is focused on in-game elements such as lineage, nationality, or in-game religion.

Technologically advanced

There are numerous technologies known in the Empire setting that would be anachronistic in a traditional medieval world. Some of these technologies such as light stones are magical in nature while others such as the printing press are mundane in nature.

Empire is also a more literate world than its real-world equivalent. The assumption is that everyone can read and write, and the general level of education is much higher than it might be in a similar fantasy world.

Magic

THIS BIT IS TOO LONG! While we say that Empire is a low fantasy world, this doesn't mean that it is not also a magical setting. Magic is a fact of life in the setting, and in theory anyone can learn to use it. There are two ways of directly wielding magical power - spellcasting and ritual magic.

Spellcasting allows magicians to perform a small number of spells that can perform a handful of specific magical effects such as healing wounds or hurling an opponent away with amgical force.

Ritual magic allows groups of magicians called covens to wield the magic of the realms to create powerful magical effects drawn from six magical lores. Ritual magic is potent but there are several limitations on what it can achieve - for example no amount of magic can raise the dead.

In addition to the more obvious uses of magic, there are several other ways that magical force can impact the game. Magic items crafted by artisans and allow even the most mundane individual to access limited magical abilities. The five magical herbs allow physicks to achieve remarkable healing effects, and let apothecaries brew valuable potions.

Finally, the world itself is steeped in magic. hearth magic is a kind of roleplaying magic that sometimes grants additional weight or significance to otherwise mundane activities.

Cosmology

The Empire is part of the mortal or mundane world, but there are other worlds. The six magical realms - Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, Day, and Night - are magical planes that are separted from but innately tied to the natural world. Magical power can be drawn from the realms, and while mortals can't visit them and survive they are inhabited by supernatural creatures called eternals who are fascinated by the material world.

Religion

Faith is a powerful motivation in the Empire setting, but it differs greatly from religions in many other roleplaying games. There are no gods for example, and no divine authority that will tell players how to act or answer their questions. The powers wielded by priests are significantly more subtle than those commonly available to religious characters in other settings, focused around the creation of roleplaying effects and dealing with spiritual matters rather than providing healing or smiting opponents.

Reincarnation

Almost all human religions recognise the idea that human souls reincarnate. Most of the known religions believe that after they die humans go to a spiritual realm for a time and then are reborn in the world. The exact details of these beliefs vary widely.

Many religions

The Empire has a formal religion - the Way - that is based around the pursuit of the seven Virtues. This religion is know and followed by people all over the world, but it is only one of several competing religions. It's illegal for people to preach other faiths in the Empire.

As with other elements, the religions of the Empire world are specific to the setting. Player character priests are likely to wield secular power as members of the Imperial Synod, and there is a strong theme of religious conflict with the priests of foreign religions.

The World

Not a medieval world

The broad strokes of the Empire setting are built around the aesthetics of the 12th and 13th century but that is not to say that the people who live there have the same attitudes as medevil people.

Rules

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