[17-Feb-21 07:33 PM] Chocolate#1810
Hey Everyone! I’m Zac, part of a small group from Australia called Plus Three Press.
We’re currently working on Crystalpunk, a D&D 5e Campaign Setting set in a magic-fuelled future. It’s live on Kickstarter right now and just a few backers away from being funded!
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[17-Feb-21 07:34 PM] saintnexan#6715
Thanks, @Chocolate! The floor is open to questions!
[17-Feb-21 07:34 PM] saintnexan#6715
Can you give us an overview of the setting?
[17-Feb-21 07:37 PM] Chocolate#1810
Sure. The basic premise of Crystalpunk is taking your average fantasy world and propelling into a dark future. Technology has advanced with magic as the primary source of power and the main source of getting things done. Things are powered by souls, demons, and infused crystals, and spells and magical artifacts are used to get everyday tasks done. All of this is set within futuristic cityscapes where fantasy and cyberpunk collide.
[17-Feb-21 07:37 PM] Chocolate#1810
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[17-Feb-21 07:37 PM] saintnexan#6715
Interesting premise!
[17-Feb-21 07:37 PM] Nathaniel (Sgt 86Delta)#3807
Another punk setting. Two in one day. Out standing.
Really excited for Zac and PTP.
[17-Feb-21 07:38 PM] saintnexan#6715
Howdy again, @Nathaniel (Sgt 86Delta)!
[17-Feb-21 07:38 PM] Nathaniel (Sgt 86Delta)#3807
Thanks @saintnexan
[17-Feb-21 07:38 PM] saintnexan#6715
@Chocolate Can you give us an idea of the “tech” level?
[17-Feb-21 07:39 PM] Nathaniel (Sgt 86Delta)#3807
@Chocolate that is a lot of power sources.
[17-Feb-21 07:43 PM] Chocolate#1810
The tech level is a bit hard to describe, for instance, there is no internet, but there are floating cars and mega factories. But some spells supplement communication and entertainment, like using channel sense to beam talk shows directly into your head or channeling yourself into the Ethereal Plane to meet others. Overall there is more human interaction involved and some things are more advanced than others. But overall it does have a very futuristic vibe.
[17-Feb-21 07:44 PM] Chocolate#1810
Yes there is quite a bit! All of it is usually funneled into raw magic, much like how electrical generators in our world all funnel to create electricity.
[17-Feb-21 07:44 PM] Chocolate#1810
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[17-Feb-21 07:45 PM] saintnexan#6715
Were you inspired by any particular sources?
[17-Feb-21 07:49 PM] Chocolate#1810
Well, the Cyberpunk genre itself was a huge inspiration of course, as well as many other video games. I think when I first put the idea in writing I put it down as “Dark Souls meets Cyberpunk”. But now I think I was mostly inspired by music, specifically the dark synthwave genre – Carpenter Brut, Dance with the Dead, etc.
[17-Feb-21 07:49 PM] Chocolate#1810
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[17-Feb-21 07:50 PM] saintnexan#6715
Is there a magical equivalent to cybernetics?
[17-Feb-21 07:52 PM] Chocolate#1810
Yes! It’s quite a large part of the setting. Augmentations that hook straight into the user’s flow of magic to allow them to easily control them. There mostly used as conduits to allow mundane folk to cast simple spells, and most replace individual fingers to allow them to do so.
[17-Feb-21 07:53 PM] Chocolate#1810
We even have an entirely new class based around such augmentations – the Evolutionist.
[17-Feb-21 07:53 PM] Chocolate#1810
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[17-Feb-21 07:54 PM] saintnexan#6715
What does weaponry look like?
[17-Feb-21 07:55 PM] Henry#3418
How does not having the internet change things?
[17-Feb-21 07:57 PM] Chocolate#1810
Most of the weaponry in Crystalpunk takes the form of magic-infused weapons or arcane firearms, which draw raw magic from the user to fire out bolts of energy. Fights are very colourful and luminous.
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[17-Feb-21 07:59 PM] saintnexan#6715
Very cool art, by the way!
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[17-Feb-21 08:01 PM] Chocolate#1810
Having no internet is a big change in the city compared to traditional Cyberpunk worlds – people must instead use traditional methods of information spreading, such as flying around the city with a voice-enhancing spell or having phone calls through magical objects and spells. Most importantly though is people must often engage face to face, even when watching live shows through the channel sense spell. Since the population of the big city, Prismatic Falls, is so large, this does make it easy to spread misinformation – which the Cults that run the city certainly use to their advantage.
[17-Feb-21 08:02 PM] Chocolate#1810
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[17-Feb-21 08:02 PM] saintnexan#6715
Cults, you say? Do they take the place of megacorps in the setting?
[17-Feb-21 08:05 PM] Chocolate#1810
They certainly do! The cults are basically megacorps built from a belief in one of the gods of the setting. They recruit more followers into their religion, and in exchange, their god grants them power.
[17-Feb-21 08:05 PM] Chocolate#1810
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[17-Feb-21 08:05 PM] saintnexan#6715
Who are the PCs?
[17-Feb-21 08:10 PM] Chocolate#1810
We generally want to allow PC’s to be anyone in the world, but the game is framed in a way to allow the traditional ‘punk’ hero to thrive. Meaning rebels, outcasts – anyone who goes against and tries to actively stop the corruption and deceit within the city and the outside world. Generally though, most PC’s will start as mercenaries performing missions for some larger power.
[17-Feb-21 08:10 PM] Chocolate#1810
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[17-Feb-21 08:11 PM] saintnexan#6715
Do you keep the alignment system, and if so, are some of the Cults on the good side of the scale?
[17-Feb-21 08:14 PM] Chocolate#1810
I personally am not a big fan of the D&D alignment system, though we will (most likely) use it to describe some things within the game, including the cults. We’re planning to rather push the idealistic differences between the cults rather than saying one is good and one is evil. But some are good-er than others, yes, though none are without their flaws.
[17-Feb-21 08:14 PM] Chocolate#1810
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[17-Feb-21 08:15 PM] saintnexan#6715
I know there’s no magical Internet in the setting, but is there magical “hacking”?
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[17-Feb-21 08:19 PM] Chocolate#1810
Ah yes! There is the classic dispel magic which is already in D&D – and we also a new wizard subclass called the school of infiltration perfect for disabling and interacting with magical devices. We also make good use of the Ethereal Plane, a parallel plane which we call soulspace in this world, where casters can project themselves into to scout out locations without being seen. It’s kind of like hacking into cameras, though if you meet someone else trying to stop you in that plane, your up for a fight.
[17-Feb-21 08:19 PM] Chocolate#1810
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[17-Feb-21 08:20 PM] saintnexan#6715
What races/species are playable?
[17-Feb-21 08:23 PM] Chocolate#1810
All of the base D&D races appear in our world, and you can easily fit other fantasy races in without much issue. We also offer a couple of new race options that appear in our world, a few examples are the Soulfuelled: robots powered by the souls of the deceased, the Eternals: undead that swap bodies to live forever, and Nephilims: angelic humanoids who garner traits from their celestial heritage.
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[17-Feb-21 08:23 PM] Chocolate#1810
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[17-Feb-21 08:25 PM] saintnexan#6715
The Soulfuelled sound particularly cool. What sorts of capabilities do they have?
[17-Feb-21 08:28 PM] Kale#1990
Are there firearms?
[17-Feb-21 08:28 PM] Chocolate#1810
Depends on what they were manufactured for – some are experts at weapons, some at repairs and tinkering, and others have top-tier endurance for heavy labor. They are not your common robots though, since they were born by a soul, they have emotions, feelings – and are constantly haunted by the memories of their soul’s past life, which they receive as nightmares.
[17-Feb-21 08:30 PM] Chocolate#1810
There are arcane firearms, which draw magic from the user to fire bolts of energy. Because of this they are a bit more varied than regular firearms, some able to strike large areas and others able to be used as spellcasting focuses to cast spells. There are no traditional firearms in our world, though.
[17-Feb-21 08:31 PM] Chocolate#1810
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[17-Feb-21 08:31 PM] saintnexan#6715
You touched on this earlier, but what unique classes do you offer?
[17-Feb-21 08:32 PM] Kale#1990
I asked because there was a 3.x third party book, called… Arsenal? Which tried to do the ‘Magic Future tech thing’ and the concepts were cool, like mini-fireball launching SMGs, and I was curious if your system might go the same way. 🙂 You have my interest.
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[17-Feb-21 08:36 PM] Chocolate#1810
We only have one class for Crystalpunk, which is the Evolutionist, made for creating cyborgs and mutants. We do also have seven new subclasses for the pre-existing D&D classes, such as the Quickdraw Archetype, a smooth talking gunslinger, and the College of Momentum, a rockin’ musician. There’ll also be advice for how to adapt those classes to the futuristic setting.
[17-Feb-21 08:37 PM] saintnexan#6715
Mutants? What are they like?
[17-Feb-21 08:37 PM] Kale#1990
Oh, here’s the book! They had a second called Factory… This one was the best though.
[17-Feb-21 08:37 PM] Kale#1990
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51GYB1ZK3ZL.SX364_BO1,204,203,200.jpg
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[17-Feb-21 08:37 PM] Chocolate#1810
Hell yeah, Fireball launching SMG’s! We’re definitely going in that same way. I’ll have to take a look at that.
[17-Feb-21 08:38 PM] Kale#1990
It’s a little over powered, but the concepts behind it are what intrigued me. But don’t think I’m trying to influence or change your vision. I am just making a comparison.
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[17-Feb-21 08:39 PM] Henry#3418
That guy looks a little like 40k space marine
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[17-Feb-21 08:39 PM] Chocolate#1810
Mutation is another form of body modification in the setting, its very rare compared to technical augmentations and difficult to control, but also uses magic and alchemy to mutate the body.
[17-Feb-21 08:40 PM] Chocolate#1810
Ah yes I understand! I was just curious about that setting as well, sounds very cool.
[17-Feb-21 08:40 PM] saintnexan#6715
That’s interesting. So it sounds like mutation in this setting fills the biomod niche.
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[17-Feb-21 08:42 PM] Chocolate#1810
I guess it does! Though I never really considered that niche. I suppose I thought of it more just an alternative method to blend the line between dark fantasy and cyberpunk, a bit more gritty and forceful way of body modification.
[17-Feb-21 08:42 PM] Chocolate#1810
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[17-Feb-21 08:43 PM] saintnexan#6715
What is the monster situation in this world?
[17-Feb-21 08:47 PM] Nathaniel (Sgt 86Delta)#3807
Dead, deadly, and ethereal.
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[17-Feb-21 08:47 PM] Chocolate#1810
Ooh yes, this is a good one. Lots of em’ – even in the city! Since magic is so overused in the most urban areas of our world, the barrier between the planes is growing thin, and monsters began appearing from other planes in the streets of the city. It’s now the job of sentinels, the guards of the city, to fend them off. Even more roam outside the walls, it’s generally a very dangerous world.
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[17-Feb-21 08:47 PM] Chocolate#1810
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[17-Feb-21 08:48 PM] saintnexan#6715
Huh! That’s actually the opposite of what I thought you were going to say. Interesting.
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[17-Feb-21 08:50 PM] saintnexan#6715
On the same track, what’s become of the traditional fantasy monsters? Are dragons still around? What about orcs?
[17-Feb-21 08:56 PM] Chocolate#1810
Within the walls, monstrous races with enough intelligence to function in society, such as Goblins and Orcs, generally live alongside the other races. Some with even more Intelligence, such as Dragons, either serve in positions of power within the city or prefer to live outside the walls in solitude. Other monsters also live outside the walls in generally the same manner as traditional fantasy, though their settlements are also somewhat advanced. And for those monsters from the other planes, such as demons – well, they are most often trapped in someone’s car – being used as engines.
[17-Feb-21 08:57 PM] Chocolate#1810
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[17-Feb-21 08:57 PM] saintnexan#6715
How much wilderness is out there?
[17-Feb-21 09:00 PM] Chocolate#1810
Oh there’s quite a bit. There are three other major locations on the continent which are filled with wilderness, the warring, medieval states of the Shattered Empire, the demon-infested desert that is the Scorching Frontier, and the impossibly massive jungle of the Overgrowth.
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https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/780948065367490590/811794241935769641/triexotic.png
[17-Feb-21 09:01 PM] Chocolate#1810
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[17-Feb-21 09:01 PM] saintnexan#6715
What keeps the advanced city from just steamrolling the medieval states?
[17-Feb-21 09:06 PM] Chocolate#1810
Mostly, distance and location – the Shattered Empire is quite far from Prismatic Falls and doesn’t offer many useful resources. Also, the medieval states are actually quite a bit more militarily advanced than Prismatic Falls, generally because of constant war in that area, and is more concerned with their own wars than fighting with the big city.
[17-Feb-21 09:06 PM] Chocolate#1810
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[17-Feb-21 09:06 PM] saintnexan#6715
You mention the sentinels… Can they be PCs?
[17-Feb-21 09:08 PM] Chocolate#1810
Yes of course! It’s more of a title for anyone who does the job of cleaning up the city of monsters that spawn from the void – it is usually mercenaries that the cults hire, and can even be one-time jobs. Its one of the general mission types we describe in the game, and is perfect for PCs.
[17-Feb-21 09:08 PM] Chocolate#1810
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[17-Feb-21 09:09 PM] saintnexan#6715
Gotcha. Cool.
[17-Feb-21 09:10 PM] saintnexan#6715
So weird question, perhaps: Are there barbarians, and if so, how do they fit in Prismatic Falls society?
[17-Feb-21 09:15 PM] Chocolate#1810
So one thing we really wanted to make sure we did well was allow every D&D character option available to fit in this futuristic city. The barbarians are the ‘brutes’ of this world – the muscled warriors who fight in melee with heavy weapons, who you might get into a fistfight into with in a bar or confront as a bodyguard to some heavily guarded location. The ‘nature’ aspects are a bit more difficult, as it is with druids and rangers as well – but in that case it mostly comes down to flavoring the character as being an outsider to such a futuristic city.
[17-Feb-21 09:15 PM] Chocolate#1810
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[17-Feb-21 09:16 PM] saintnexan#6715
And now it’s time for @danhunsaker’s Favorite Question! Are you there, @danhunsaker?
[17-Feb-21 09:17 PM] saintnexan#6715
Okay! Looks like it’s up to me!
[17-Feb-21 09:17 PM] saintnexan#6715
So…
[17-Feb-21 09:18 PM] saintnexan#6715
…What is your least favorite aspect of Crystalpunk?
[17-Feb-21 09:23 PM] Chocolate#1810
Ah! That’s a tough one, since we’re still working on putting it all together. I’d say right now, I feel like it is a bit all over the place. We have a core theme and built on that, though I feel like some elements of Crystalpunk may not fit right together and need more thematic refining. We generally went into this project wanting to create a unique world that we would play in our games, and maybe there are a few too many ideas packed into it. Perhaps our backers will enjoy that though, who knows!
[17-Feb-21 09:23 PM] Chocolate#1810
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[17-Feb-21 09:24 PM] saintnexan#6715
A very good answer!
[17-Feb-21 09:24 PM] saintnexan#6715
In the time remaining, is there anything we haven’t covered that you’d like to bring up?
[17-Feb-21 09:26 PM] Chocolate#1810
Not really, I think we are all good. I would like to say thank you for having me on this Q&A, it was really enjoyable chatting about our world.
[17-Feb-21 09:26 PM] saintnexan#6715
I’m glad you enjoyed it! I do hope you’ll feel welcome to hang out with us whenever the mood strikes. 🙂
[17-Feb-21 09:26 PM] saintnexan#6715
Usual reminder: If you’ve enjoyed this Q&A and would like to treat me to a coffee or two, you can do so at https://www.ko-fi.com/gmshoe. Anything’s appreciated! 🙂
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[17-Feb-21 09:27 PM] Chocolate#1810
Will do! Thanks for having me.
[17-Feb-21 09:27 PM] saintnexan#6715
Thanks for joining us! Have a good one!
[17-Feb-21 09:27 PM] saintnexan#6715
Oh!
[17-Feb-21 09:27 PM] saintnexan#6715
Can you hang on just a sec? I’ll get the log posted and link you!
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