The World of "Antipaladin Blues"

[JigokuBosatsu]

Well, I suppose technically it's the "League of Extraordinary Motherfuckers" trilogy, but that's just a working title.

Some of you have read my promo pdf of "Antipaladin Blues" and offered some feedback, which I really appreciate. Anyone else who'd like a shot at it, pm me your email. Unfortunately, the writing seems to be on the wall for the would-be publisher... so it looks like I'll be getting released from my contract and seeking... well, not greener pastures, but pastures period.

That's all beside the point. For a number of reasons I thought I would take time to set out some world-building details... one of which is just to get my head straight so I can pick up where I left off book 2. Also, since this is a universe based in RPG tropes, I thought it might be a likely candidate for a game I may be MCing soon. And of course, any help you denizens want to offer in making this thing better is good enough reason to reach out.

So, in the next couple days I'll be trying to have a little mental diarrhea and outline this world.

[JigokuBosatsu]

COSMOLOGY:

The world of Antipaladin Blues concerns a number of interlocking realities put together with very little thought. That is just how it is, deal with it.

BONES This is the "Prime Material" plane. It is referred to as 'Bones' only in rare manuscripts, and by the more cosmopolitan interplanar travellers. Only a single Earth-like planet is mentioned in the text, though it is possible there are others, and if that is the case then it is likely that there are douchebags in magical boats sailing between them. A variety of magical portals exist here, most hidden or lost, having been created in ancient times by elder wizards of forgotten power. That magic technology has been somewhat reverse-engineered in relatively modern times, leading to the creation of the Arc Gate, which only allows for transportation between locations on Bones.

HELL Inhabited by alien lifeforms known commonly as Demons. They are quite powerful magically, but compared to the Angels, there are relatively few of them, due to intense competition in harvesting sensation and emotion. Demons are not specifically 'evil', but definitely amoral, and most show a perverse fascination with doing things the hard way. Little is known about the Hell realm itself, but judging by the way the Demons ran things on Bones during their not-so-brief occupation, it is probably like a burning reverse-Ikea run by Cenobites.

HEAVEN The Angels are an odd bunch. They are not so much amoral as they are hyper-moral, and their arbitrary codes of behavior are all but inexplicable to humans. Something within the human race fascinates them, though, and they have take our superego and run with it. Heaven itself (the first level at least) is a seemingly nice place, composed of imperishable settings of pastoral beauty, gleaming unearthly cities of tightly-knit communities, all with soft music perpetually playing in the background. This is widely understood, as the Angels have allowed numerous human holy men to visit and bring back tales. Some of the more radical mystics maintain that past the first level, things get really fucked up- but they are conveniently ignored.

VOID While the native eldritch abominations on Bones eventually attuned to the psychic idiosyncracies of emerging humans (becoming 'The Gods' in the process), the unspeakable horrors of the Void never have, and it is believed by sages that there is some general incompatibility involved. The plane itself is inimical to most life, and those few incursions of Void creatures on Bones ended up with peoples drinks getting spilled in a big way. Gates to The Void are typically created ad hoc by sorcerors who don't know what they are getting into.

ASH There are only two gates to this odd place, and good thing. The magic level of this plane is definitely over 9000. It is inhabited by overly-muscular giants, giant lizard people, giant dwarves, teeny-tiny death wizards, and metal trees. It's like a 10-year-old Dungeon Master threw up into bowl, and granted it planar status.

ERASE This plane has only intersected with Bones once in all of known history, when a group of heroes and archmages begged the inhabitants to intervene and help end the Hell Years. They are called Rakshasa, and if you have read a monster manual you are familiar with these genteel tiger-headed cannibals. Since the last interaction, they have sealed all gates to Erase and kept them sealed. Rakshasa are sophisticated and powerful both individually and as a society, but their general xenophobia and isolationism have kept them from conquering EVERYTHING. So far.

CHAOS The most recently 'discovered' of the realms. Nothing is known about Chaos itself, but its representatives either have the power of shapeshifting, nonlocality, or both. They are a curious combination of gregarious and mysterious, and so far have limited themselves to bringing modern banking and high class brothels to Bones. These representatives are friendly to humankind, and for a race of shapeshifters from a place called Chaos, are immaculately scrupulous. Naturally, many people are highly suspicious, and thus the Chaos Bank prefers to work through human intermediaries in many places.

[Midnight_v]

Sorry to hear bout that, may you find your pasture soon.

[JigokuBosatsu]

Thanks, man. Busting out of my poorly-worded contract is starting to be fun already.

[Midnight_v]

link me to the stuff?

[JigokuBosatsu]

CHRONOLOGY:

AGE OF MONSTERS The planet is ruled by amorphous aboriginal monsters, who prey on assorted lifeforms. As the human race begins to emerge and assert its psychic dominance, some of these abominations adopt them and defeat their fellows in a series of cataclysmic wars. The victors become more human-like and are henceforth the beings known as 'gods.' It is during this age that Frank Burley is born as one of the first wizards.

AGE OF MYTH The human art of magic is at its peak and civilization flourishes, now known as the Lost Kingdoms. The nonhuman races begin to flourish as well, and are known as the 4F: Fomorians, Folk, Fiends, and Firbolg. Frank Burley becomes a lich during this Age.

AGE OF MIGHT Human population is at its peak until the arrival of Angels and Demons, who fight over the planet. The Angels are temporarily defeated, and the Fiendish races allies with the Demons. The Folk are exterminated entirely, and humans and Fomori enslaved. The Firbolg are given shelter by the nation of Taspek, which retreats below the polar ice for good. The 'Hell Years' continue until a cabal of powerful humans venture to Erase, and return with an army of Rakshasa. When the conflict ends, the Fiends are decimated, Demons banished, and the Rakshasa claim the entire race of Fomorians as payment. An Angelic conspiracy teaches the nobility of the nation of Galak a puissant form of theological social science, sewing the seeds of Empire.

AGE OF MAGIC As human populations are rebuilt, the new great nations are formed. The archmages who helped end the Hell Years locate themselves in the western archipelago with the remnants of the Firbolg. They begin a new era of magical experimentation, despite lacking the power of the mages in the Age of Myth. This age also shows the rise of a liberated nobility, fragmented religious orders, and powerful craft guilds, as well as a techological renaissance and population explosion. After a series of civil/intercontinental conflicts known as the War of Venoms, Galak seizes control of neighboring D, Krosse, Elasz, Rhoda, Trit, and Jormum. The Caliphate of Pluton closes off the lands of the east, including most of the magic-rich Lost Kingdom ruins. The archmages now refuse to deal with any non-secular governments, and withdraw all regular mages. The only mage guilds who remain in the world are the Sages and Alchemists(who have greatly expanded in power and influence with the loss of straight magery). The coming of Chaos marks the beginning of the truly modern age.

AGE OF MAN Where the novels take place. Notable events include Frank Burley awakening after centuries of torpor, the paladin-king Prin declaring a crusade to reclaim the Lost Kingdom ruins (and not be ignored this time), and a series of attacks/attempted coups resulting in a magical explosion in the capital city of D that dispels most standing enchantments.

[Gods_Trick]

A very interesting world, and its got a nice irreverent riff to it. Always sorry to hear a fellow writer going dry of pastures. Good luck with finding better ones!

[JigokuBosatsu]

Hey, thanks. Irreverence is definitely more of a driving force than verisimilitude... my newer work on this world/series is definitely influenced by my time here at the Den, but I'm no political science grognard yet.

And in publishing news, it appears that my publisher will be putting the book out as the press' last gasp. A friend of mine also offered to do another video for the book, with antipaladins cuttin' off heads and stuff. I put the finishing touches on the manuscript, it's all formatted and ready to go to the printers. And looks good, if I do say so myself.

THAUMATOLOGY

Bones is a high magic world. Not as high as the Hell or Heaven realms, or Ash in particular... but as compared to other earth-like prime material worlds, quite high. Certain sages have speculated that there is a great gemstone dancing at the center of the planet and giving off magical radiation- this has not been verified. Humans are able to funnel this magic for their own purposes in a unique way, at least according to extraplanar beings, all of whom seem particularly interested in this. The gods work like some sort of weird magic bank- human worship funnels power to them, and the gods grant dividends in return, in the form of divine powers for the greatest of their servants. Angels find this human funneling aspect to be dirty and filthy. Demons find it to be dirty and delicious. However, don't mistake this for altruism on their part- in fact, it only increases the amount of suffering the attempt to inflict on humanity. Think foie gras.

WIZARDRY

So, most human use of magic falls under this category- direct manipulation of magical energy. The methods and reasoning may vary, but this is what it all boils down to. Some prominent subsets are:

• SORCERY: This is the 'purest' form of wizardry, and the first discovered in forgotten eras. It requires no material components, rituals, invocations, or anything. Only a very few of the archmages in modern times have been able to practice sorcery- this ability is dying out. The effect of wizard inbreeding in the Western Archipelago seems to be selecting against magery, and for idiocy.
• PSIONICS: Even rarer than Sorcery, it actually shares many similarities with that art, but seems to focus exclusively on SPOOOOOKY MIND POWERS. It takes a special kind of douchebag to master the mental arts, and as such most Psionicists end up stabbed before they get too far.
• ALCHEMY: Probably the most common variety in the world. While most alchemists are just doing their jobs getting up early and making the potions, they are in fact channeling the magic of the world just as much as any other wizard.
• SAGERY: Focused on learning and research, Sages tend to be above good and evil, and derive most of their power from being standoffish and feeling like they are above actually practicing magic.
• SHAMANISM: A slightly racist blanket term for non-Empire ethnic wizards. The various cultures do tend to focus on different methods- Plutonic shamans prefer summoning magic, Taspek uses some runic Atlantean bullshit, etc.
• BLUE MAGERY: The Blue Mages were originally a cult serving a long-undead wizard. They are notable in being the largest group of straight-up wizards outside the Western Archipelago. The Blues specialize in combat magic- even their utilitarian spells tend to explode, catch fire, or shoot your eye out.

PALADINANIGANS Servants of the gods come in all flavors, and are so varied as to not merit a particular 'class'. Functionally, they are fluffy wizards. The servants of the Archangels and Demon Lords, however, match a particular archetype that we call the Paladin (or Antipaladin/Blackguard, for the latter). Paladins are fewer in number but individually more powerful. The Angelic hosts are more discriminating and require a special blend of righteousness and ruthlessness. Paladin powers typically manifest in holy auras and blinding rays of light. Antipaladins, in most cases, are given low level unholy weapons and armor, or very basic black magic to augment their fighting skills.

ARTIFACTS It is safe to say that artifact magic, in which the Lost Kingdom specialized, is the most powerful magic on Bones. The means for producing permanent artifacts is all but lost, and it is the hottest research area in both the Western Archipelago and the Royal College in Pluton. There is a thriving trade in graverobbery and treasure-seeking in the East's numerous Lost Kingdom ruins. These rogues (known mockingly as Resurrectionists) work both within and without the stricture's of Pluton's laws on these ruins. Cannibalized artifacts, usually within improvised enchantment/technology combinations, form the basis of much of the Empire's industrial complex.

[JigokuBosatsu]

I'MDONEWITHBULLSHITOLOGYOLOGY

Time to talk in gaming mode for a bit. I'd like to go through some of the available classes in this world. I'll start with ones from the Tomes, because, well, yeah. I didn't namecheck the SRD in the acknowledgements, ya know.

ASSASSIN: Yes please. In the Galak Empire, assassins have been recognized and regulated by the government since the War of Venoms. This is handled by the Department of Interurban Affairs, who maintain their own staff of assassins. Most civilian assassins are in the employ of the various warring noble houses. Note: There is no Assassin's Guild. There is an informal brotherhood of assassins in Krosse and Elasz, who have been playing both sides against each other since the first caveman launched a Death Attack with a rock, but they are relatively genre savvy and eschew ceremony and trappings. The assassin spell progression manifests a bit differently- in the Empire, since wizardry is scarce and alchemy commonplace, spells will manifest as either potion making or exceptional stealth abilities. In the South, assassins will get spells normally from one of the infernal powers.

BARBARIAN: Relatively widespread, barbarians are notable in a few places: the aborigines of the Western Archipelago, the highland tribes of Elasz, and most of Cnidar. Due to conscription, there are whole units of barbarians from different parts of the world to be found in the great urban sprawl of D.

CLERIC AND DRUID: Most priests and holy men with magical powers will functionally be wizards or sorcerors with pantheon-appropriate spells. I suppose you could give them spheres if you really feel like it. Occasionally powerful warrior priests emerge and these can be represented by the standard cleric, but more often than not these will be paladin-types. While there are plenty of 'protectors of the wild', note that there is no druid class, because... no.

FIGHTER: This class represents the vast bulk of armed nobodies in the world, who do not get nice things. Most are low level, and stay that way until they are killed or retire to become innkeepers. Any veteran types will be represented by a shift to another class. There have not been any high-level superheroic fighter types since the Age of Might.

KNIGHT: Since it is a courtly ideal in this world for young noblemen to exude a certain threatening aloofness, there are a lot of knights. Since this requires intense physical training and sexual stamina, the knight class is mostly for the young, and older knights tend to gravitate to other classes or stop leveling. The non-titled knights are mostly found as treasure hunting adventurers in the east.

MONK: Few and far between. There are some deadly unarmed warriors among the Western aborigine, and it is believed that there were a number of monk-like prestige classes in the lost nation of Taspek.

ROGUE: Chances are, if you are an average dude who is not a 1st level fighter, then you are a rogue. Most people in D have a level or two of rogue just by dint of survival skills. Grimdark, remember. A number of alchemists who aren't wizards-in-disguise are effectively flask rogues. High level rogues tend to be found among the Resurrectionists. Note: there is no thieves' guild. I am serious.

SAMURAI: Warlike noblemen who aren't as concerned with poontang will end up as samurai instead of knights. Many career NCOs in the Imperial military are samurai as well. The nation of Rhoda is trying very hard not to be a feudal Japan analogue, but they do have a lot of traditional samurai types.

WIZARD: Well, what I call 'Wizards' are mostly... well, wizards, or sorcerors. What I call 'Sorcerors' are in effect archmages. 'Alchemists' are typically wizards, and 'Sages' are loremasters or archivists. You can get fancy with prestige classes for some different wizards: the Blue Mages tend to be warmages, Cnidari shamans are warlocks, Plutonic wizards are summoners, Southern black magicians are fire mages, etc. The Western Archipelago is home to the greatest variety of wizards in the world, and as such there will be all sorts of thaumaturges and crap there. Note: Necromancy is considered a lost art since past Ages, and would only be practiced by liches. And since there's only one lich left...

SOLDIERS AND MARSHALS: These classes represent most of the high level or high ranking warriors in militaries across the world. Officers and NCOs in the imperial military in D tend towards the soldier class, as they are exposed to fighting units conscripted from many different places. These regional variants replace all the demihuman maneuvers, as there really aren't any demihumans.

PALADINS/ANTIPALADINS: These have been discussed previously.

BARDS: While they are spoony as all hell, the bard class does exist and there are a lot of them. Note: there is a bard's guild, the International Brotherhood of Entertainment Engineers. They are surprisingly influential. 'Indie' bards, who are not members of either the IBEE or the Sage's Guild, are a relatively modern phenomenon, and very controversial. Bard spells manifest as either magical music/personality powers, or knockabout alchemy.

OTHER STUFF: Since the other realms are for the most part sealed off, none of the classes based on extraplanar abilities have been available since previous Ages. The same is true for classes based around the undead. Of the two remnants of the demihuman 4F, each have a prestige class available only to them. The Firbolg, being giants, are able to take the Big Nob class, though any battlecry abilities manifest as loud, unnerving whispers. The Fiends, all of whom are under care of the demon lord Vex, have access to the Skin Dancer prestige class, which allows them to WALK AMONG US. Other prestige classes are regional in nature: the treasure-hunting Resurrectionists, for example, have access to Dungeon Veteran and Defiler of Temples. MC creativity is encouraged, of course.

CHARACTER EXAMPLES:

KANNON: Hard to say. I originally represented him as a Fallen Paladin/Unholy Warrior (because the Blackguard is fucking retarded). Tomewise, I think he is a Samurai/Demon Samurai/Runic Knight. Or something.

CHAMBERLIN: Loremaster.

AVERY: Alchemist/Flask Rogue.

DERRICK: Soldier

WENDELL: Knight

ANDREW: Force Mage

GRAPPA: Marshal

HATHAWAY: Paladin

[Cheiromancer]

I see Antipaladin Blues finally came out! I got a copy on Amazon - my review is up!

When is the sequel?

[JigokuBosatsu]

It's in progress... kinda sorta. I have books 2 and 3 outlined pretty thoroughly, which is a first for me.

Problem is, I have so many projects on so many levels of burner. What gets finished is largely a factor of "how much time will it require" vs. "how likely is it that this will ever see the light of day."

At the moment, most of my Antipaladin Blues-related activities involve cashing in cans for spare change so I can pay rent and buy postage to send off the preorder copies. Such is the life of a published author.

Not to be all doom and gloom, though- thanks for the honest review. That's awesome!

[Cheiromancer]

You're welcome. I tried to write a review that would have persuaded me to buy it. I'm suspicious of 5-star reviews that only mention the positive. If there are lots of reviews I start with the 3-star and 4-star reviews and see what the problem was. If it is a little problem, then I feel confident buying it.

The paladin in the book came off as a real jerk. Is he a Kantian Paladin? How do they reconcile their bad behavior with their strict code? Or is Kannon just prejudiced?

[JigokuBosatsu]

He was written long before I had come back into the RPG fold. I found inspiration, actually, from GTA:VC's Tommy Vercetti. I liked the idea of a person in an "evil job" (mobster/antipaladin) who seemed like a decent enough guy with some scruples, but on the lowest level (the level of "player intent" if you want to get meta) is still basically a murderous thug who enjoys causing suffering.

That's contrasted with Viscount Hathaway, who was more an exercise in "How vile and murderous can you be while still being 'Lawful Good'?" The answer to that was "Pretty damn vile and murderous so long as the gods (read: DM) allow it."

But don't get me wrong, I didn't set out to write a critique of the player/DM power dynamic. I'm not nearly that slick. I just started noticing things having a bit of resonance beyond what they were on the surface.

[Cheiromancer]

Yeah, Viscount Hathoway is the one I thought was a jerk. Kannon I liked. But how do Lawful Goods get to do vile and murderous things?

If there was a shitty thing possible that could be done with a loophole in their precious code, they would do it... [angels] are cool with the idea of raping and killing if you can sneak them through the rules.

How do you sneak raping and killing through the rules?

[JigokuBosatsu]

Rule 0?

It might be something I develop more in the next book.

[Cheiromancer]

Fair enough. I wondered if it was a Pelor, the Burning Hate kind of thing. But then I thought maybe I had missed something in a Den thread about alignment and behavior.

[Cynic]

The whole thing about Paladins is the "righteous anger" bullshit. You see that in the regular world as well. As long as you can justify it as actually serving your higher good then it should be okay.

[icyshadowlord]

Wait, what DOES Viscount Hathaway do in the text then?

Edit: Also, out of curiosity. How long have you been writing, Jigoku?

Adding to that, who are you publishing for? Just asking as a writer who wants to publish some stuff some day.

[JigokuBosatsu]

Right off hand he murders a building full of innocent people to flush out someone he doesn't like, kills an ally out of racism, and hits ladies.

I have been writing since forever, though I lost a solid decade of my life to an abusive marriage and started writing again in 2007.

Not sure about your last question... who is my audience? Or my publisher? If the former, lord knows. If the latter, LegumeMan Books, out of Melbourne.