NovArchaic has been my dream game to make for the last ten years. At that time, while I may not be able to run a game, or work on the system, I had spent my waking hours not dedicated to something else, to the dream of the world and game. This base set is a setting I have run multiple games in and made sure is interesting to any players that came around.

Just like all things I develop, I made a list of goals and restrictions for my process of developing this. These guidelines help me stay consistent while I develop and help me answer questions when I start getting into strange places about how I can go forward with development.

1. Any inspiration from real people, creatures, or cultures must be handled with respect and care. If I don't feel able to do them justice, then I don't.

2. This setting should be open for others to make their own, and I should give them tools and design spaces to do that. If there is something interesting, I should make it so that they can fill in the dots, as well as have the tools to do that.

3. All things in the system must be intentional, nothing should exist just "cause". 

4. All setting categories are allowed, and encouraged, to have their own rulesets.

With that out the way, let's get into why you all are probably really here: actual lore drops. NovArchaic big setting has a lot of different things I can focus on and talk about. I can talk about how the reality of the world was split into multiple parts. I can talk about different places within the timeline. I can talk about different lore rules, like how one can become or kill creatures of amazing strength (like a patron for a warlock or something). Heck, I can go into detail about different people or places that exist. That would take a lot of time, and honestly, I think right now it is more beneficial to go into broad strokes of the lore of the world.

A World Fractured

“Long ago, our world was full of wondrous magical things, besides the wondrous mundane things that it is full of now. There were dragons, spells and their castors, and even different sentient species that we humans got along with for the most part.” Markus, publicly known as the owner of NuWave and in some circles, the Dragon of Invention explained. “But something happened, that scared people enough, powerful people, that made them consider the impossible to protect themselves and others in a last-ditch effort.”
 

Markus sighs, letting out frustration like a vent releasing steam. “They decided, without talking to the masses, to play gods. They split the world into multiple pocket dimensions, grouping locations and things on a whim. Some might have done it for their purposes, as we have seen the greed that can live in people’s hearts. All we can say for certain is that what they did in desperation can cause our demise unless we figure things out. Magic is coming back, bringing with it the shards, but not safely; the shards are coming together, in a collision course towards the core, where we live.” 
 

- Excerpt from The Scribe of The Shards of Reality 

At some point in the historical past of the world of NovArchaic, something happened that made things drastic enough that the only solution that was available was to split the world into multiple realities. Separating magic from the core of the world, and making all types of magic sporadic in other reality shards. This comes with many unknown problems that only now, with the worlds starting to come back together, are becoming apparent to everyone. 

In my own home games, the big issue that caused the worlds to separate was one individual who made a set of ritual daggers, that when used allowed them to absorb the person's magical essence, gaining their strengths (and weaknesses). This allowed for a few fun games with some throw-away situations (giving a player or two one of those daggers normally meant they used it, which made this big bag stronger). But I know I have also come up with other things as well (magical extinction event made by some bad magics, a war of gods, etc), and the openness is nice so that people can run whatever is more fun for them.

Shards of Reality

Overall I have three shards of reality that I have planned for the testing document, but I have a few others in my head I know I want to develop.

The first shard is the core shard, otherwise known as the world as we know it. So while the basic bones and structure of this world are similar there are things that I added to give it more character. There are unique characters and organizations that only exist because of the magical side of things. There is an "Urban Legend" beast that hunts down and kills creatures who are attached to leylines that should have long been gone. I think the most fun I have had when developing the setting is asking myself, "Well, how would things be different if we got a few years to take technology and use magic with it."

The other base shard I am introducing is what the locals call "Elfheim." While I am taking some inspiration from Norse mythos, and other concepts to create it, it isn't what it was back in the day of magic. The land had mainly magic that was tied to the spirits of the dead with how it was sectioned off, so what was once the Winter Court became the Frosted Kingdom, and the people of the other four courts are seemingly no more (or they are just really good at hiding). There are people who are unaligned, but those who are one of them normally have reasons and are normally very strong or just plain lucky. There are a few other groups that exist, like the Valkyries, but they are kept busy dealing with the spirits of the dead that are around.

Lastly, there is the shard I am currently calling the Junkyard. This shard is unique in that it originally was just a hideaway home from a powerful hidden-folk technologically-curious wizard, who when they found out that the world was going to be split, wanted to be left alone. Ironically they did his split in a way that he not only brought himself but a small town that was nearby as well. The domain wasn't that stable though, and it, in itself, faded in and out of different shards, sometimes getting more people, sometimes gathering more materials for those who live there. The unstable magic made the wizard's life a nightmare, as it harmed many of their experiments, causing big accidents, and leading to their body being changed. Themselves becoming more a machine than living beings. The experiments and time also did a number on some of those who live in The Junkyard, as some goblins and gnomes became gremlins with a strange power to jump between the Junkyard and other dimensions.

Summary

The world of NovArchaic is pretty big. I didn't go into a lot of different specifics, but if I did then this article would have been too long for me to feel good about posting. Heck, it's already getting kind of there.

What do you all think? With what I said so far, are you interested in learning more? Are you excited to have tools to make your own shards? Do you want to know more about certain topics? Let me know, so I can make sure to drop some more lore!

I am open to new topics to chat about, so if there is something you might be curious about for NovArchaic, just let me know so that I can see about adding it to my list of things to eventually talk about it, haha. I hope you all have a great weekend (or day, whenever you read this). Bye!

 

- Technomancer Kyle