ZR Chronicles
ZR Chronicles is set in a world of magic and wonder that recently discovered the horror of industrialised warfare.
Inspirations: Arcana, Valkyria Chronicles
Setting
Paradigm
Magical/magitech 1900-1939.
Mana
The world is suffused by mana, a potent psychoactive energy source. Throughout history all nations have used it and abused it, whether in its material form, bound into magical items or stored inside the body itself.
Most magical items and similar 'standing' applications of mana require highly-trained mages to construct and maintain, until the recent invention of 'mage-free' templating techniques that have transformed the face of war. While they have gradually risen in prominence over the course of the last century, it was only in the Great War that the old world learned the power of modern 'templated war'.
Leadcasters
Battlefields have been dominated for centuries by variations of these mana-fueled projectile weapons. Melee weapons are found mostly in ceremonial or specialist roles.
Striders
The noble Strider, knight-giant of the battlefield, is the emblem of power. Or was. These mighty walking machines can carry heavy weapons into the teeth of the enemy, protected by thick armour and the cheers of their infantry comrades. Unfortunately, the complex and idiosyncratic mana-mechanisms needed to make a metal man walk have thus far proven impossible to template, and so striders were eclipsed by Clovian tanks in the Great War and many say their time is fading.
Vehicles
The Zwentibold Rotary Engine, replacing older steam-based power systems, has led to the rise of vehicles based on rotary motion rather than the imitation of nature. The Great War saw these come into their own, as first Clovia and allies and then their Triumvirate enemies fielded full battalions of heavily armoured 'tanks', changing the face of war forever. Aside from still-disputed issues of design, Zwentibold-based machines have the critical advantage that they can be templated for mass production.
Aircraft
Technology marches on. Airships, based on lifting gas perhaps augmented by magic, have long been a supplement to oceangoing trade. The advent of Zwentibold engines and lighter alloys however has seen 'aeroplanes' that rely exclusively on mechanical lift begin to emerge. They played little role in the Great War, but many think they will dominate the next as tanks did the last.
Beasts
Rar!
Geography
It's a round world with continents and oceans.
Atlantis
The Old World, the heart of civilisation. Victorious Clovia stands as the dominant power, but is suffering internally. The Triumvirate have licked their wounds and risen with a vengeance, spurred by venomous demagogues. Independent powers cower in fear, or seek to exploit the situation for their own gain.
The New World
The New World is not just the mysterious continent to the East, but all the regions of the planet outside Atlantis now open to easy exploration and travel by modern technology.
Races
Humans
The generic. Humans live in Atlantis and the lands connected to it. They comprise the entire population of Atlantis save for the elves and dwarves, and dominate beyond save for the occasional nations of beastmen.
Elves
The isolationist homeland of the elves is beyond the Glass Cliffs across the sea to the North, but two millennia ago a contingent sailed South to conquer Atlantis. Their aristocracies have persisted since then, and though somewhat diluted with human blood the Lords and Ladies of Atlantis are still identifiably elven.
Dwarves
Most dwarves live in their isolationist cave kingdoms, farming fungus and mining minerals. They invented templating, but never had the material and social circumstances that led to industrialisation. That was spurred by the Exiles, who have trickled from the mountain caves over the centuries to form an insular subculture among the nations of Atlantis. They accumulated wealth funded the industrial revolution that now attracts more dwarves to seek their fortune under the sun.
Beastmen
Some lands beyond Atlantis are occupied by various beastmen, understood to be humans merged with animals by some ancient sorcery. The recent work The Descent of Man and Beast-man however denies this, and holds that the template for the beastmen was in fact elves, and that humans themselves are the product of the fusion of elves with the Atlantean tree-crawler. It has caused quite a stir.
Catfolk
The only group to range similarly to humans, Cat-eared folk dominate the mysterious continent to the East, and have enclaves on the Atlantean landmass.
Making a Nation
Templates
There are two basic types of nations: Old World and New World.
Old World
Old World states are industrialised by default, are always majority human (with optional elven nobility), and are entrapped in the politics of Atlantis.
New World
New World states are not industrialised by default, but they can credibly contest advanced Atlantean armies with strider, beast and shell and can be of any racial majority.