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Framing the 4th Era. Hope or Despair?

In fantasy fiction it’s not unusual for an age of conflict and strife to end with a resolution and new hopeful future. LOTR, WoT and even the predicted Shadow World storyline implies a new age of prosperity. That’s a natural story arc. Unfortunately, conflict is and challenges are a necessary ingredient for roleplaying adventures! A Shadow World reset should be noticeably different from the 3rd Era and established story arcs.

The tone of the 4th Era would obviously rely on the GM’s preferences, but a few angles or ideas to consider:

  1. Despite the “win” by the forces of light, Kulthea needs to be rebuilt from the ashes of the grand war/battle.
  2. Will the Lords of Orhan withdraw to let the peoples of Kulthea choose their own future, or will the Gods be more omnipresent in the day to day? ie: will the churches fill any leadership gaps? Could this lead to oppressive religious institutions or a corruption of clergy?
  3. How could a major disruption of the Essaence Flows impact the Navigators? Would major flow routes and/or Foci changes quarantine off areas of Kulthea?
  4. How far would civilization fall? Would major cities like Eidolon, Haalkitaine or Danarchis be destroyed?
  5. Is this a “rebuild” society or post-apocalyptic setting or a “clean up” the residual Unlife/Demons/Dark Gods remnants?

Major Arc Ideas:

  1. Legacy of the Loremasters. (see, I inverted “Loremaster Legacy” for continuity sake!). The Loremasters took enormous losses during the “Last Battle” and the organization is decimated. Karilon was attacked and perhaps destroyed too!! Andraax has disappeared and assumed killed while the Council were mostly killed. One of the players is a apprentice Loremaster with a latent artifact. Goal is to recover the Loremaster archives, rebuild the organization etc.
  2. Rise of the Dragonlords. With major cities and governments collapsed, several of the Dragonlords have expanded their empire. The Silver Dragon in northern Emer, The Red Dragon is most of Jaiman, Ulya and Jenkyna is the western lands.
  3. The Age of Reason. The restoration of the Northern Eye created a “EMP” style Essaence surge. Essaence users were exposed and suffered permanent burnout and loss of casting ability! (to be recovered somehow?). Magic is waning, and the Essaence is weakened by a constriction of the interdimensional rift. (the Lords reduce the aperture further to block the Unlife and mitigate the volatile effects of the Nothern Eye) In this void, the Alliance, Channelers and Mentalists are ascendant powers.
  4. Lords of the New Pantheon. The Hierarchy of the Lords of Orhan is overturned. Several of the Gods of Charon have reclaimed their position on Orhan and/or have ensconced themselves on Kulthea as true God Kings. New religions, powerful Clerics and theocracies spring up.
  5. Waterworld. The effects of the last battle have melted much of the polar regions. The sea levels have risen 20′ destroying coastal communities and reducing land mass. Shaal’s followers grow, the Mermen and Shuluri control the sea lanes. Many great cities are submerged (and can be explored!). A plan to re-freeze the poles using the power of the Eye’s is formed by a small group of survivors.
  6. Technology is the new future. Off-world powers begin to visit and/ or settle Kulthea. Technology is still unreliable or sensitive to Essaence effects. Conflicts between native powers and colonialists ensue.

Just a few ideas to ponder!

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Shadow World and the 4th Era

There has been some discussion about resetting the Shadow World setting with the start of the “4th Era”. The purpose is two fold: first, to respect the canon work that Terry has built and second to create a starting point for new Shadow World material with a clean slate (more or less).

There is no dispute that Terry’s work in the Master Atlas’s, Emer books, Loremaster Legacy, Grand Campaign and other supporting material was building towards a finale. The converging narratives were built around the loss of the Northern Eye, growing influence of the Unlife, and world spanning cults. Similar to the end of the 1st Era, and to a lesser extent, the Wars of Dominion at the end of the 2nd Era, the current 3rd Era was going to end, and likely messily!

Clashes of great powers, meddling of Gods both noble and malign, key and notable NPC’s and the players themselves could result in seismic events. Perhaps this grand battle would not result in world-wide destruction, but it could certainly lead to triggers that would then unleash secondary destruction. Floods, tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions could be as destructive or more so than cataclysmic releases of the Essaence.

I see 4 major categories of change:

  1. Geographic impacts. This could be destruction of coastal areas, loss of land mass due to a rise in sea levels, subsidence of continental shelves, massive volcanic activity.
  2. Changes in the Essaence. Would major Essaence flows change in scope or power? Would flows reroute or diverge from current paths? Would the ambient level of Essaence change, become more or less volatile?
  3. Political. If major population centers and/or empires were dramatically impacted would new powers emerge? Which major powers, NPC’s or historical figures survive?
  4. Gods. IF the gods were involved with the end of the 3rd Era, what is the end result? A shift of the current pantheon? A change in the hierarchy of the gods? Do the Gods of Charon benefit or lose from these events?

I think this is an exciting pivot point for Shadow World! Terry’s setting up to this point, becomes history– a time of legend and mystery! Functionally, this reset could coincide with the new RMU ruleset and some of the changes built into the 4th Era could better engage with Rolemaster rules.

As I work on this I’ll post some updates, but curious if anyone else has some thoughts?